Pure Imagination
by LunaEvanna Longbottom
Summary: Clementine Dursley liked her cousin Harry- a lot more than either of her parents or her brother Dudley- which was why she was devastated that he would be going away to boarding school...well, she was upset, up until she learned that Harry's new school had room for one more student.
1. In A World Of Pure Imagination

_Come with me_  
_And you'll be_  
_In a world of pure imagination_  
_Take a look_  
_And you'll see_  
_Into your imagination_

* * *

When Clementine Dursley opened her eyes, she was greeted to the sound of birds chirping and the morning sun shining into her face through her window. Had it been any other Monday, Clementine would probably be dreading getting up and facing school which wasn't too bad, but always seemed to be unbearable on Mondays.

However, that Monday wasn't just any other Monday; it was her eleventh birthday and her parents had promised a trip to the zoo that Clementine had been begging for since Christmas. And, this time, her birthday trip wouldn't be so unbearable as she had pleaded with her mother to allow her cousin Harry to accompany them instead of leaving him with their neighbor; Mrs. Figg wasn't a bad person and she wasn't mean to Harry like Clementine's own parents tended to be when they weren't completely ignoring him, but Clementine enjoyed her cousins company- a lot more than she did her own brother's. Harry-

Clementine's eyes popped open as she heard the sound of steps sounding in the hallway and she suddenly realized what it being her birthday morning meant; her mother always got up a few minutes earlier to start breakfast and wake Harry up so that he could help. Clementine could just imagine how twisted her mother's face would get if she realized that he wasn't in his cupboard underneath the staircase.

Throwing her duvet off of her body, Clementine scrambled to get off of her bed and ended up falling over the side and down onto the floor with a thump muffled by the carpet. "Ow," She groaned as she stood. Her mother had insisted that she would fall off of the top bunk of the bed one day if she wasn't careful, but Clementine had never paid much attention to her words. Now, she was just glad that her mother hadn't seen her fall.

Dusting off the bottom of her pyjamas, Clementine continued on with her mission and began shaking her sleeping cousin who lay on her bottom bunk. "Harry, wake up!" She only had to shake him once or twice before he woke. "Harry, you've got to get downstairs; we overslept and mum's getting up now." Harry immediately began to get up and put on his glasses; the last thing he wanted was for his Uncle Vernon to start locking him in his cupboard at night. "Come on!"

Rushing over to the door, Clementine pulled it open and popped her head out to see her the back of her mother's nightgown peaking out of the doorway. She could hear her talking to Dudley who was most likely inside. Looking back, she waved Harry forward and let him move past towards the stairs. He was almost to them when, down towards the other end of the hall, the door to her parents bedroom clicked open and her father stepped out. He was yawning and rubbing his eyes as he turned towards the stairs and Harry who had frozen in fear. Thinking fast, Clementine stepped into the middle of the hall and screamed as high and loud as she could.

"Daddy!" Startled, her father jumped and her mother nearly tripped trying to exit the bathroom to see what had gotten her only daughter so worked up. Harry, after realizing that he was no longer in jeopardy of being caught, continued down the stairs.

"Clementine!" Her mother, Petunia, rushed down the hall with her father following close behind her as she continued screaming. Behind them, Clementine could see her brother look out into the hallway with a bored expression and a toothbrush sticking out of his mouth before going back to brushing his teeth. "Clemmy, what's the matter sweetheart?! Are you hurt?!"

"It's my birthday!" She finally took a break from screaming to belt out. "It's my birthday! It's my birthday! It's my birthday!" Grabbing both of their hands, she began to jump up and down with them joining as not to discourage her.

"Ah, yes, well..." Her father smiled uncomfortably as he jumped in place. "You would be rather excited, wouldn't you? You only turn eleven once,"

After a few more moments, Clementine took pity on her parents and let them go before going back into her bedroom to get dressed. Her mother had bought her a brand new dress specifically for her birthday; it was a navy knee length long sleeve cashmere dress with a white Peter Pan collar and a matching headband along with white stockings and a pair of shiny, black dress shoes with a short heel that made a click-clacking sound whenever she walked which Clementine adored.

Once she was dressed, Clementine when downstairs to the kitchen where her mother had already put Harry to work cooking. Her father sat at the table with Harry watching while Dudley tore into a large pile of presents piled high on top of one another. Her mother, standing at the stove, was quick to notice Clementine and abandon her task. If only to avoid being blamed for the food that would eventual get burnt, Harry got up and took over the food.

"There's my beautiful sunshine Clemmy-bee!" She said in a high voice as she pulled Clementine into a hug and began kissing her soundly on the top of her head as her face twisted; Clementine detested the nickname that her mother had insisted upon since Clementine could remember. Despite her dislike for the name, however, Clementine endured and allowed only her mother, grandmother and Aunt Marge to use it. "You look absolutely darling- Vernon, doesn't she look like an absolute angel?" Clementine was nearly given whiplash by how fast her mother turned her towards her father who didn't even look away from his paper as he answered.

"Of course she does; she's your daughter." He didn't dare mention the fact that Clementine looked like neither of her parents, instead favoring her maternal grandfather who she had only met a few times before his death; Harrison Evans had been a tall man with long bright red hair and a matching beard that had been passed down to only one of his daughters and one of his grandchildren- the red color of his hair, that is, and not the beard.

"Sit down, sweetheart- boy!" She snapped to Harry, leading Clementine over to her seat. Harry appeared only a second later with eggs and bacon. Clementine gave him a smile in gratitude; she didn't thank him out loud anymore. It only led to a long winded speech from her father about how allowing Harry to sleep underneath his roof was thanks enough for anything he did. "Your presents are all in the living room; we couldn't fit them in here."

At that, Dudley stopped eating and he stared up at his mother. Clementine tossed her napkin at him when she saw all of the jam over his face. "How many does she have?"

"Boy,"

"Thirty-eight, Aunt Petunia." Harry answered as he sat back down. Dudley's face turned a truly impressive shade of red and Clementine could practically see steam coming out of his nose.

"Thirty-eight?!" He demanded. "But I only got thirty-seven!"

"That's because some of yours are bigger and more expensive-" Aunt Petunia tried to explain, but Dudley was uninterested.

"I don't care!" He bellowed. "Why does she have more than me?!" As if sensing the oncoming tantrum Dudley was no doubt intending to throw, Harry began shoveling food in his mouth at an alarming rate, but Clementine knew it probably wouldn't get that far.

As she had correctly assumed, Clementine's mother immediately began to try and placate her son. "And we'll buy you another two presents while we're out today," She promised. "How's that, popkin? Two more presents. Is that all right?"

As if by magic, the redness was completely gone from Dudley's face and he beamed at his mother before going back to his bacon. Across the table, her father chuckled.

"Little tyke wants his money's worth, just like his father." He said with an air of pride. Clementine couldn't help but think how cross her father would be if Harry had done with Dudley had for any of the dozens of things denied to him- like an actual bedroom with a window. "'Atta boy, Dudley!"

Breakfast went by slowly with Dudley insisting he open all of his presents at the table before anyone be allowed to leave. He had been upset when he discovered that several of his presents had been intended for Clementine, but, luckily, he hadn't realized that it meant the amount of presents he actually had were lower than he thought before. During his unwrapping, Dudley's friend Piers had shown up as he was Dudley's guest for their birthday trip to the aquarium. Harry was Clementine's guest even though her mother had- unsuccessfully- tried to convince her to invite one of the girls from school. Unfortunately for her mother, Clementine didn't have many friends at school- well, no close ones, anyway; most of the girls stayed far away from her as they found her brother insufferable and assumed that she would be, too and others stayed away due to the fact that Clementine was close to Harry which Dudley, nor his friends, would tolerate from anyone else.

The drive to the zoo was a long one- especially with Piers and Dudley yelling and hitting one another as they played Yellow Car in the backseat of the minivan. The drive seemed to get even longer as Clementine had to listen to her father rant after he heard Harry tell her about his dream about of a flying motorcycle. By the time they got to the zoo, Clementine had a headache and a bad mood that hadn't been lifted until lunch when Dudley had spilled juice on his pants that made it look like he had wet himself. She had even made sure that Harry had gotten dessert by telling Dudley that they hadn't put enough ice cream on his Knickerbocker Glory. Dudley had complained and gotten a new one while Harry was allowed to take his first one since it was paid for.

Unfortunately, Clementine knew that the good times had to come an end.

After lunch Piers and Dudley dragged the family to the reptile house where there was supposed to be a snake big enough to crush his mothers Station Wagon into a tiny ball. Although Clementine was sure her brother had to be exaggerating, she didn't see the snake as she was too afraid to go inside; Clementine had always had a completely rational fear of snakes and other reptiles ever since she could remember, so the reptile house was not for her. Instead, the two wandered into the gift shop where Petunia was more than willing to buy anything Clementine asked for. When it came to getting what she wanted, Clementine chose kindness and asked for things while Dudley would screw up his face, pretend to cry, and even hit their parents if he were refused anything. They both yielded the same results, but Clementine liked to think her parents appreciated her manners.

Clementine browsed the shelves of stuffed animals, T-shirts, and hats as she tried to find the perfect gift; Harry's birthday was in a little over a month and, much like his other birthdays, it wouldn't be much of an event. Other than tossing him a pack of jaffa cakes and giving him a mediocre gift (last year it had been tape for his broken glasses), Harry's eleventh birthday would pass without much fanfare. Clementine always tried to give him a gift, but they were never good ones; she had tried to give him her camera when she was nine only for Dudley to throw it out a window and she had given him a new pair of shoes to replace his worn down ones the year after that, but her father had taken them and given them to Dudley despite the fact that his feet were two sizes bigger than Harry's.

This year, however, Clementine wouldn't allow her present to Harry to be taken away or thrown out- she would wail and throw things like Dudley did if that's what it took. Unfortunately, it wasn't easy to find a good birthday present in a zoo gift shop. Harry was sure to appreciate anything she would give him, but Clementine didn't want him to appreciate her gift, she wanted him to love it.

However, before Clementine could even look at all of her options, screams erupted from the reptile house across the way and Clementine looked to see people running out of the building as if they were running for their lives. Worried for Dudley no doubt, Petunia began running towards the reptile house and Clementine followed only to be stopped in her tracks when a large green snake came slithering out of the doorway. Her mother, however, didn't break her stride as she ran towards the sounds of the yells of Dudley as her screamed for her.

As if sensing her staring, the snake stopped in its tracks before looking straight at her. Heart pounding in her chest, Clementine didn't dare look away or move a muscle as the snake slithered closed and raised to her eye level. It bared its teeth with a hiss and Clementine was sure that she was going to wet herself.

However, due to a reason Clementine wouldn't know anytime soon, the snake didn't strike at her. Instead, it hissed once before slithering away as fast as it could. It was only once it was gone that Clementine finally let herself cry.

* * *

Her father ended up finding her after the reptile keeper had gotten Dudley out of the snakes habitat- something no one was able to explain, but were more than ready to blame on Harry- it was decided that the trip was over. After taking Piers back to his home, the Dursley family had gone home and Harry had been banished to his cupboard for the zoo incident while Clementine was put to bed.

The next month wasn't a good one; Harry hadn't been allowed out of his cupboard until after school had been let out for the summer despite how much Clementine had begged and pleaded that he be let out. It had taken a fit of tears and forcing herself to be sick all over her fathers favorite shoes for him to cut Harry's unfair punishment in half and let him out early. After he was out, Harry and Clementine spent most of their time outside and away from Dudley and his friends.

"It's almost your birthday, Clementine reminded her cousin as she watched him ride around on her bike.

They were at the park that day as Dudley had invited several of his friends over to play with his video game system- well, Clementine's game system. Dudley had broken his only a day after he got it, so he had taken to using Clementine's without asking, but she didn't care. She didn't care much for video games because staring at the TV for too long always hurt her eyes.  
Instead, Clementine and Harry had gone to the playground in the park almost a mile away from their home. There weren't any other children around, so it was the perfect place to be unbothered.

Clementine watched as Harry circled the merry-go-round that she sat cross legged on for the tenth time. He had just learned how to successfully ride a bike without falling or crashing into anything- and he had done it a lot less time than it took Clementine- so she had given him her bike to ride while they were away from home.

"My birthday's not for another fortnight," Harry pointed out as he circled around his cousin once more.

"Yes, but anything could happy in the next two weeks and I'm very excited about your gift, so I want to give it to you now," Clementine told him. "Now stop riding and circles and come get it." Harry was careful as he slowed the bicycle to a stop and put down the kickstand before going to sit on the merry-go-round with the redhead who turned and pulled out an envelope from the over-sized pocket of her overalls. With a smile, she handed it over to Harry who took it immediately. "I didn't really know what to get you that dad or Dudley couldn't just take away," She told him, watching as he opened the envelope. "So, I went up to the attic to find something and found a few of the boxes mum put up there after gran died." Holding her breath, Clementine watched as Harry pulled out the photo inside.

The photo showed a beautiful woman who couldn't have been more than twenty or so with long red hair and bright green eyes that were easily visible despite the distance of the camera. Cradled in her arms was a small baby with a head full of messy black hair swaddled in a blue blanket who was gazing up at the woman with a sleepy, but wondrous look on his face. The woman was grinning as she looked at the camera.

"Is that...?"

"Your mother- Lily," Clementine told him. "I found it in some of mum's things from gran's house." Harry had never remembered meeting his Aunt Petunia's mother, though he did remember the large redheaded man that had been his grandfather, but he had died before Harry had been given a chance to make any pleasant memories with him. "After you were born, she sent this to mum- I have the letter." Clementine told him as she turned to pull her rucksack closer. She only had to push away a few of the snacks she had packed before she found the letter. When she turned back, Harry was still staring at the picture of his mother, so Clementine took it upon herself to read the letter.

"_Dear Tunie_," She read. "_I know we haven't spoken in sometime, but I wanted you to be the first to know; I have a son, now. Mum and dad told me that you also gave birth to a little boy named Dudley. I would love to meet him one day and I'm sure you'd like to meet your nephew- the first of many if James has his way. It took me a very long time, but I finally decided on a name for my little boy. Meet Harry James Potter- after dad. James and I are going to introduce Harry to mum and dad next week; perhaps if this letter finds you in time, you could join us. I'd very much like that. With Love, Lily_,"

Harry didn't speak for a moment- quite a few moments, actually, but Clementine didn't take any offense. She was only eleven and she had both of her parents, but she knew that it couldn't be easy for Harry to have no reminders of the ones he once had- Clementine was sure that this was actually the first time he had seen a photograph of either of his parents. That was her parents fault and she hated them for creating a situation where she had no way to comfort her best friend.

"Thank you," He said finally, tearing his eyes away from the photo. "This is the best present I've ever been given," Clementine smiled at him as he looked back down at the photo and she leaned her head onto his shoulder.

"Just wait and see what I have planned for Christmas,"

* * *

The next week was a haze for Clementine- well, she wished it was.

With her going away for school, Clementine's mother had taken to trying to do everything in one single week; she was insistent that Clementine needed a years worth of brand new clothes and several of her school's uniform (a grey pleated skirt, a long sleeve button up underneath a dark blue blazer with the school's crest on the left breast pocket, a pair of black Mary Janes and long socks- Petunia had also gone just a bit overboard buying blue hair ribbons, ties, and headbands that complied with the schools dress code).

Miss Evangeline's Secondary School was a boarding school in Burgess Hill which was where Clementine would be attending secondary school. It was an all girls school and hours away from Surrey, so Clementine doubted she would see her parents, Dudley, or Harry very often as Harry would be going to a public school near home. Clementine had asked to go, but she felt guilty admitted how glad she was when her parents refused; she was excited to be living away from home and with girls who wouldn't keep away from her because of Dudley. The guilt came from the fact that she would be leaving Harry and wouldn't see him again until she returned home from Christmas, but Harry had insisted that he would be find without her- especially since Dudley would also be going away to a boarding school and taking a few of his friends with him.

Despite how much they were spending on Dudley and Clementine, Harry wouldn't be getting a fraction of it; He was going to Stonewall and, instead of getting him more clothes, Clementine's mother took instead to dying Dudley's old clothes in the sink for Harry to wear. It stunk up the entire house and Harry was given fault.

"Get the mail, Dudley," Her father ordered from behind his newspaper when he heard it come through the slot.

"Make Harry get it."

"Get the mail, Harry."

"Make Dudley get it."

"Poke him with your Smelting stick, Dudley." Harry ducked when Dudley swung his stupid stick (which, for some reason, was part of his uniform) at his head and Clementine sighed as she stood from the table.

"I'll get it," She offered, disappearing from the table before he father could argue. There were only three things on the doormat: a postcard from Aunt Marge, who was vacationing on the Isle of Wight with her favorite card, a brown envelope that couldn't be anything but a bill, and - a letter for Harry?

Mr. H. Potter  
The Cupboard under the Stairs  
4 Privet Drive  
Little Whinging  
Surrey

Who had sent the letter and how had they known that her parents made him sleep underneath the stairs? Clementine, deciding that was Harry's problem to figure out, went back to the kitchen and gave the postcard and bill to her father before dropping the letter in front of Harry. "You've got post," She told him as she retook her seat. Harry began to open his letter only for it to be snatched out of his hand by Dudley who had gotten up from his seat with a speed that he shouldn't have been able to achieve.

"Dad!" He yelled, getting his father's attention. "Dad! Harry's got a letter!"

"That's mine!" Harry yelled, trying to get it back, but Vernon took it before Harry could snatch it back from his cousin.

Whatever was in the letter made her father nervous and her mother even more so. They didn't return the letter back to its owner and Clementine felt bad for not realizing what would happen if she gave Harry his letter in public. She should have just put it in his cupboard so he could have opened it later that night. She told him as much, but he hadn't put any blame on her.

The rest of the week passed and it was filled with confusing events.

Clementine's home had five bedrooms; Her parents shared the biggest, Clementine and Dudley got their own, another was saved for visitors, and the last- and smallest- was used to house Dudley's toys and broken gifts. As if realizing that a human person was more important than some things, her father moved Harry into Dudley's second bedroom in hopes that whoever he was convinced was watching the house would leave them alone.

More letters continued to arrive; first it was only one everyday with the post, but- by Friday- twelve letters for Harry had been delivered by a very persistent postman. Clementine's father burned every single one of them. But then the letters had began coming out of unbroken eggs fresh from the market, they were in the milk delivered to the house, and had come flying through the chimney and windows.

Her father had, officially had enough.

That's how they ended up in a tiny shack in the middle of a small island made of rocks in the middle of the ocean on July 30th- the day before Harry's birthday.

With her parents taking the only bed upstairs, Dudley had fallen asleep on the only couch, leaving a tiny arm chair for Clementine and the floor for their cousin. But Clementine couldn't sleep with the sound of the raging waters and storm threatening to wash way the tiny shack.

Getting up, Clementine grabbed her cover and joined Harry on the floor, covering his small body with half of her cover before laying next to him. He had drawn a cake in the dirt on the floor.

"Do you know what's boggling me?" She asked him quietly.

"What?"

"We're in a shack on an island with no food, no TV, and no electricity," She reminded him. "And yet, this might be the best birthday celebration I've ever been to." Harry smiled and Clementine looked at the dirty drawn cake. "It looks delicious," She lied and he laughed. "But you can't blow out the candles until your birthday." Bringing her arm from underneath the blanket, Clementine pulled back her sleeve to show the silver watch she had gotten for her birthday a month before. "It's eleven fifty-nine," She told him, trying to ignore the sounds outside the shack. "You've got thirty seconds to go."

"Twenty-five," Harry said as the hand counted down.

"Twenty,"

"Fifteen,"

"Ten," Clementine said before they both began counting down. "Nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one-" But the two stopped when a loud booming sounded from outside the shack.

Someone was outside, and they wanted in.


	2. Never Believe It's Not So

_Oh, oh, oh_

_It's magic, you know_

_Never believe it's not so_

_It's magic, you know_

_Never believe, it's not so_

* * *

The loud boom sounded again, startling Dudley away.

"Where's the cannon?" He asked in his sleep induced confusion.

There was a crashing sound behind them and the three children looked to see Vernon rushing down the creaking steps with a shotgun in hand. Petunia was close behind him.

"Who's there?" He demanded. "I warn you - I'm armed!" Then, it was silence; there was no booming knocking sound or yelling, just the raging storm...until-

The door suddenly came off of its hinges as something smashed into it and it feel to the ground revealing a giant of a man in the doorway. Clementine could barely make out his face as it was covered by long, shaggy hair and a wild, tangled beard to match, but you could make out his eyes, glinting like black beetles under all the hair.

The man entered the hut, crouching so that he didn't hit his head on the ceiling. He bent down, picked up the door, and fitted it easily back into its frame. The noise of the storm outside dropped a little. He turned to look at them all.

"Couldn't make us a cup o' tea, could yeh?" He asked as if he hadn't just broken into their shack. "It's not been an easy journey..." He walked over to the couch where Dudley sat in shock, shaking the shack with every step. Realizing he was about to sit down, Clementine pulled her brother down onto the floor just before he was flattened. Dudley squeaked when he hit the floor and ran to hide behind their mother. The man paid him no mind before looking to Harry. "An' here's Harry!" He didn't sound angry.

"Las' time I saw you, you was only a baby," he said. "Yeh look a lot like yer dad, but yeh've got yer mom's eyes." Clementine remembered the photo of Lily and baby Harry.

Clementine's father finally seemed to find his voice. ""I demand that you leave at once, sir!" he said. "You are breaking and entering!"

"Ah, shut up, Dursley, yeh great prune," said the man before he reached over the back of the sofa, jerked the gun out of her father's hands, bent it into a knot as easily as if it had been made of rubber, and threw it into a corner of the room. Clementine was openly gawping at him at this point.

"Anyway - Harry," said the giant as if he hadn't just bent a gun like a piece of taffy, "A very happy birthday to yeh. Got summat fer yeh here - I mighta sat on it at some point, but it'll taste all right." From one of the pockets of his massive coat, the man produced a sloppily decorated pink cake with the words 'HAPPEE BIRTHDAY HARRY' written in green icing on top. Harry didn't move to take it, so Clementine did with a wary smile.

"Who are you?" Harry asked finally and Clementine stepped on his foot. "Ow!"

"Don't be rude!" She hissed, but the behemoth of a man chuckled.

"True, I haven't introduced meself. Rubeus Hagrid," He introduced, but he pronounced his name strangely. "Keeper of Keys and Grounds at Hogwarts."

His eyes fell on the empty grate with the shriveled chip bags in it and he snorted. He bent down over the fireplace; they couldn't see what he was doing but when he drew back a second later, there was a roaring fire there. It filled the whole damp hut with flickering light and Clementine felt the immediate difference in temperature.

The giant sat back down on the sofa, which sagged under his weight, and began taking all sorts of things out of the pockets of his coat: a copper kettle, a squashy package of sausages, a poker, a teapot, several chipped mugs, and a bottle of some amber liquid that he took a swig from before starting to make tea. Soon the hut was full of the sound and smell of sizzling sausage. Nobody said a thing while the giant was working, but as he slid the first six fat, juicy, slightly burnt sausages from the poker, Dudley fidgeted a little. Clementine's father hissed a warning to her brother about not touching anything the giant produced.

"Excuse me, Mr. Hagrid, but what's Hogwarts?" Clementine found herself asking. Behind Mr. Hagrid, she could see her parents shuffling nervously.

"Call me Hagrid," he said, "everyone does. Yer cousin will tell you all about Hogwarts, o' course." But Harry was just as clueless as she was.

""Er - no," said Harry. Hagrid looked shocked. "Sorry," Harry said quickly.

"Sorry?" barked Hagrid, turning to stare at the Clementine's parents, who shrank back into the shadows. "It's them as should be sorry! I knew yeh weren't gettin' yer letters but I never thought yeh wouldn't even know abou' Hogwarts, fer cryin' out loud! Did yeh never wonder where yer parents learned it all?"

"All what?" asked Harry. Clementine looked between him and the man who seemed to only be getting angrier with each word spoken.

"ALL WHAT?" Hagrid thundered. "Now wait jus' one second!"

He had leapt to his feet. In his anger he seemed to fill the whole hut. Clementine's family were cowering against the wall.

"Do you mean ter tell me," he growled at them, "that this boy - this boy! - knows nothin' abou' - about ANYTHING?"

"Harry does know stuff!" Clementine defended immediately. "He's very smart- he tutors me in math!" She didn't bother to mention that he only tutored her because she had gotten sick with the flu and had gotten woefully behind due to her mother keeping her home for a week longer than necessary. Truthfully, Harry was rubbish set math. "And he learned to ride a bicycle faster than I did."

Hagrid simply waved his hand at her defense and said, "About our world, I mean." He looked to Harry. "Your world. My world. Yer parents' world." Clementine wondered if Hagrid wasn't just a strange man with an obsession with Harry who had followed them to the shack; there was only one world.

Harry seemed to agree with her inner musings. "What world?"

Hagrid looked furious. "DURSLEY!" he boomed and Clementine's father made a strange sound from where he was coward against the wall with her mother and brother. Clementine had no idea what it was that both her parents and Hagrid seemed to know that they were keeping from Harry, but she was guessing that it couldn't be

Uncle Vernon, who had gone very pale, whispered something that sounded like "Mimblewimble. " Hagrid stared wildly at Harry.

"But yeh must know about yer mom and dad," he said. "I mean, they're famous. You're famous. "

"What?" Clementine was just as confused as Harry. "My - my mom and dad weren't famous, were they?"

"Yeh don' know. . . yeh don' know. . . " Hagrid looked like a madman as he ran his fingers through his hair, fixing Harry with a bewildered, wide eyed stare. Maybe Hagrid was one of the homeless people on the street that her father said were on drugs.

"Yeh don' know what yeh are ?" he said finally. Clementine furrowed her eyebrows as she through about what Hagrid had asked; of course Harry knew what he was; he was her cousin, he was a boy, he was eleven years old-

"Stop!" Her father's voice commanded without warning, startling her. "Stop right there, sir!" Despite his commanding voice, her fathers face was still white with fright and his entire body shook as if it were freezing- which, technically, it was with no fire- "I forbid you to tell the boy anything!"

Clementine could tell that Hagrid could care less about what his father did or didn't forbid. If anything, he seemed enraged at whatever it was that her parents hadn't told Harry.

"You never told him?" Hagrid demanded. 'Never told him what was in the letter Dumbledore left fer him? I was there! I saw Dumbledore leave it, Dursley! An' you've kept it from him all these years?"

"Kept what from me?" said Harry eagerly.

"STOP! I FORBID YOU!" yelled her father in panic.

"Ah, go boil yer heads, both of yeh," said Hagrid. "Harry - yer a wizard. "

There was silence inside the hut. Only the sea and the whistling wind could be heard.

"Are you on drugs, sir?" Clementine asked, coming to the conclusion that Hagrid must've been a madman.

"I'm a what ?" Harry asked, disbelieving, as his cousins comment was ignored.

"A wizard, o' course," Hagrid continued as he fell back down on the sofa, which groaned and sank even lower, "an' a thumpin' good 'un, I'd say, once yeh've been trained up a bit. With a mum an' dad like yours, what else would yeh be? An' I reckon it's abou' time yeh read yer letter. "

Harry stretched out his hand at last to take the yellowish envelope that Hagrid handed over and Clementine finally managed to get a good look at it.

_Mr. H. Potter_  
_The Floor_  
_Hut-on-the-Rock_  
_The Sea_

Harry pulled out the letter and Clementine stepped closer to read it with him.

_HOGWARTS SCHOOL of WITCHCRAFT and WIZARDRY_

_Headmaster: ALBUS DUMBLEDORE_

_(Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc. , Chf. Warlock, Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. of Wizards)_

_Dear Mr. Potter,_

_We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment._

_Term begins on September 1. We await your owl by no later than July 31._

_Yours sincerely,_

_Minerva McGonagall,_

_Deputy Headmistress_

"What does it mean, they await my owl?" Harry asked after reading and Clementine nodded.

"Don't they have post?"

"Gallopin' Gorgons, that reminds me," Hagrid said, clapping a hand to his forehead with enough force to knock over a cart horse, and from yet another pocket inside his overcoat he pulled an owl - a real, live, rather ruffled-looking owl - a long quill, and a roll of parchment. Clementine's eyes widened at the site of the small, agitated owl as Hagrid scribbled a note, rolled it up, and held it out to the owl with took it in its beak. Hagrid took the owl over to the door and threw it out into the storm before retreating back to his seat on the couch. He didn't seem to realize how strange the sight had been to Harry and Clementine.

Harry realized his mouth was open and closed it quickly.

"Where was I?" said Hagrid, but at that moment, Clementine's father moved into the firelight.

"He's not going," he said.

Hagrid grunted.

"I'd like ter see a great Muggle like you stop him," he said.

"A what?" said Harry, interested.

"A Muggle," said Hagrid, "it's what we call nonmagic folk like them. An' it's your bad luck you grew up in a family o' the biggest Muggles I ever laid eyes on." Clementine couldn't help but step back at- what she was sure was- the harsh insult. No one seemed to notice.

"We swore when we took him in we'd put a stop to that rubbish," Spat her father, "swore we'd stamp it out of him! Wizard indeed!"

"You knew?" Harry asked, dumbfounded. "You knew I'm a - a wizard?"

"Knew!" shrieked her mother suddenly. "Knew! Of course we knew! How could you not be, my dratted sister being what she was? Oh, she got a letter just like that and disappeared off to that - that school - and came home every vacation with her pockets full of frog spawn, turning teacups into rats. I was the only one who saw her for what she was - a freak! But for my mother and father, oh no, it was Lily this and Lily that, they were proud of having a witch in the family!"

She stopped to draw a deep breath and then went ranting on. It seemed she had been wanting to say all this for years. Clementine was starting to understand why her mother had stashed everything from her parents house in the attic.

"Then she met that Potter at school and they left and got married and had you, and of course I knew you'd be just the same, just as strange, just as - as - abnormal - and then, if you please, she went and got herself blown up and we got landed with you! And then..." She seemed to get even angrier. "And then you infected my daughter with your strangeness!"

"What?!" Clementine demanded, finally finding her voice. "Harry didn't infect me with anything!"

"That boy has done nothing but corrupt you since I brought him into my home!" Her father yelled. "First it was the windows breaking, and then the teleporting- you were gone from your bassinet one night and nearly gave your mother a heart attack when we found you up on the roof!"

"I don't...you're lying," Clementine decided. "All you've done is lie; you lied to Harry about everything and now you're lying to me-"

"Unfortunat'ly," Hagrid grumbled. "The giant prune's not lying 'bout that; yeh've been on Hogwarts list since yer' were born."

"And she's not going either!" Her father yelled. "She didn't get a letter which means she's not going!"

"'bout that," Hagrid interrupted, reaching into one of his large pockets. "Dumbledore thought tha' it would be better if there were someone 'ere to 'plain it teh yeh," From his pocket, Hagrid pulled out another letter and handed it over. Seeing that Clementine was too shocked to take it- not that she could with the cake in her hands- Harry took it for her.

_Ms. C. Durlsey_  
_The Armchair_  
_Hut-on-the-Rock_  
_The Sea_

"I...I'm a wizard?" Clementine asked disbelievingly.

"Witch," Hagrid corrected.

"You are not!" Petunia yelled immediately. "I will not have my daughter going to that...to that school and getting herself blown up like my sister-"

"Blown up?" Harry questioned loudly. "You told me they died in a car crash!"

"CAR CRASH!" Hagrid roared, jumping up so angrily that the rest of Clementine's family scuttled back to their corner. "How could a car crash kill Lily an' James Potter? It's an outrage! A scandal! Harry Potter not knowin' his own story when every kid in our world knows his name!"

"But why? What happened?" Harry asked urgently. Hagrid's anger faded and his voice lost it's edge.

"I never expected this," he said, in a low, worried voice. "I had no idea, when Dumbledore told me there might be trouble gettin' hold of yeh, how much yeh didn't know. Ah, Harry, I don' know if I'm the right person ter tell yeh - but someone's gotta - yeh can't go off ter Hogwarts not knowin'. "

He threw a dirty look at Petunia and Vernon.

"Well, it's best yeh know as much as I can tell yeh - mind, I can't tell yeh everythin', it's a great myst'ry, parts of it. . . "

He sat down, stared into the fire for a few seconds, and then said, "It begins, I suppose, with - with a person called - but it's incredible yeh don't know his name, everyone in our world knows-"

"Who?" Clementine asked

"Well - I don' like sayin' the name if I can help it. No one does. "

"Why not?" Harry questioned.

"Gulpin' gargoyles, Harry, people are still scared. Blimey, this is difficult. See, there was this wizard who went. . . bad. As bad as you could go. Worse. Worse than worse. His name was. . . "

Hagrid gulped, but no words came out.

"Perhaps you could you write it down?" Harry suggested.

"Nah - can't spell it. All right - Voldemort. " Hagrid said suddenly before he shuddered. "Don' make me say it again. Anyway, this - this wizard, about twenty years ago now, started lookin' fer followers. Got 'em, too - some were afraid, some just wanted a bit o' his power, 'cause he was gettin' himself power, all right. Dark days, Harry. Didn't know who ter trust, didn't dare get friendly with strange wizards or witches. . . terrible things happened. He was takin' over. 'Course, some stood up to him - an' he killed 'em. Horribly. One o' the only safe places left was Hogwarts. Reckon Dumbledore's the only one You-Know-Who was afraid of. Didn't dare try takin' the school, not jus' then, anyway.

"Now, yer mum an' dad were as good a witch an' wizard as I ever knew. Head boy an' girl at Hogwarts in their day! Suppose the myst'ry is why You-Know-Who never tried to get 'em on his side before. . . probably knew they were too close ter Dumbledore ter want anythin' ter do with the Dark Side.

"Maybe he thought he could persuade 'em. . . maybe he just wanted 'em outta the way. All anyone knows is, he turned up in the village where you was all living, on Halloween ten years ago. You was just a year old. He came ter yer house an' - an'-"

Hagrid suddenly pulled out a very dirty, spotted handkerchief and blew his nose with a sound like a foghorn.

"Sorry," he said. "But it's that sad - knew yer mum an' dad, an' nicer people yeh couldn't find - anyway. . .

"You-Know-Who killed 'em. An' then - an' this is the real myst'ry of the thing - he tried to kill you, too. Wanted ter make a clean job of it, I suppose, or maybe he just liked killin' by then. But he couldn't do it. Never wondered how you got that mark on yer forehead? That was no ordinary cut. That's what yeh get when a powerful, evil curse touches yeh - took care of yer mum an' dad an' yer house, even - but it didn't work on you, an' that's why yer famous, Harry. No one ever lived after he decided ter kill 'em, no one except you, an' he'd killed some o' the best witches an' wizards of the age - the McKinnons, the Bones, the Prewetts - an' you was only a baby, an' you lived."

Clementine looked over at her cousin; she could tell that there was something going on inside of his head. He was remembering something- something that he couldn't possibly remember...something that she hoped he didn't actually remember. No one should remember seeing their parents dying...being killed.

"Took yeh from the ruined house myself," Hagrid continued gently, "On Dumbledore's orders. Brought yeh ter this lot. . . "

"Load of old tosh," Clementine's father spat and Harry jumped while Clementine herself pursed her lips at his harsh tone.

"Now, you listen here, boy," he snarled at Harry, as if he were anything but a person. "I accept there's something strange about you, probably nothing a good beating wouldn't have cured - and as for all this about your parents, well, they were weirdoes, no denying it, and the world's better off without them in my opinion - asked for all they got, getting mixed up with these wizarding types - just what I expected, always knew they'd come to a sticky end-"

Suddenly, Hagrid leapt from the sofa and drew a battered pink umbrella from inside his coat. Pointing it at Clementine's father like a sword, he said, "I'm warning you, Dursley - I'm warning you - one more word. . . " Whatever courage her father had mustered to go off on Harry had disappeared at the threat and he flattened himself against the wall and fell silent. "That's better," said Hagrid, breathing heavily and sitting back down on the sofa, which this time sagged right down to the floor.

Harry had questions.

"But what happened to Vol-, sorry - I mean, You-Know-Who?"

"Good question, Harry. Disappeared. Vanished. Same night he tried ter kill you. Makes yeh even more famous. That's the biggest myst'ry, see. . . he was gettin' more an' more powerful - why'd he go?

"Some say he died. Codswallop, in my opinion. Dunno if he had enough human left in him to die. Some say he's still out there, bidin' his time, like, but I don' believe it. People who was on his side came back ter ours. Some of 'em came outta kinda trances. Don' reckon they could've done if he was comin' back.

"Most of us reckon he's still out there somewhere but lost his powers. Too weak to carry on. 'Cause somethin' about you finished him, Harry. There was somethin' goin' on that night he hadn't counted on - I dunno what it was, no one does - but somethin' about you stumped him, all right. "

"Hagrid," Harry said quietly after a moment had passed, "I think you must have made a mistake. I don't think I can be a wizard."

"Of course, you can," Clementine told you quickly. "You can do anything- be anything you'd like!"

Her father didn't seem to like that. "Haven't I told you he's not going?" he hissed. "Neither of them are going!" He pointed to Clementine, "She's attending Miss Evangeline's School for Girls," He pointed to Harry. "And he's going to Stonewall High and he'll be grateful for it. I've read those letters and they'll need all sorts of rubbish - spell books and wands and-"

"If they want ter go, a great Muggle like you won't stop either of 'em," growled Hagrid. "Both of 'em 'ave been 'ad their names down since they was born. They're goin' off ter the finest school of witchcraft and wizardry in the world. They'll be with youngsters of they're own sort, fer a change, an' they'll be under the greatest headmaster Hogwarts ever had Albus Dumbled-"

"I AM NOT PAYING FOR SOME CRACKPOT OLD FOOL TO TEACH HIM MAGIC TRICKS!"

Clementine's father seemed to have finally crossed a line that Hagrid was unwilling to forgive; Seizing his umbrella, Hagrid whirled it over his head, "NEVER - " he thundered, " - INSULT - ALBUS - DUMBLEDORE - IN - FRONT - OF - ME!"

He brought the umbrella swishing down through the air to point at Dudley - there was a flash of violet light, a sound like a firecracker, a sharp squeal, and the next second, Dudley was dancing on the spot with his hands clasped over his fat bottom, howling in pain. When he turned his back on them, Clementine's mouth popped open in shock when she saw a curly pig's tail poking through a hole in his trousers.

Her father yelled in fright; Pulling Clementine's mother and Dudley into the other room, he cast one last terrified look at Hagrid and slammed the door behind them. Clementine was hurt as she wondered why he hadn't tried to protect her, too. Did he really hate people with magic that much that he'd immediately cut her off?

Hagrid looked down at his umbrella and stroked his beard.

"Shouldn'ta lost me temper," he said ruefully, "but it didn't work anyway. Meant ter turn him into a pig, but I suppose he was so much like a pig anyway there wasn't much left ter do." Clementine couldn't help the small laugh at her brother's expense. She supposed he deserved it for being such a bully.

Hagrid looked to the two cousins. "Be grateful if yeh didn't mention that ter anyone at Hogwarts," he said. "I'm - er - not supposed ter do magic, strictly speakin'. I was allowed ter do a bit ter follow yeh an' get yer letters to yeh an' stuff - one o' the reasons I was so keen ter take on the job. "

"Why aren't you supposed to do magic?" asked Harry.

"Oh, well - I was at Hogwarts meself but I - er - got expelled, ter tell yeh the truth. In me third year. They snapped me wand in half an' everything. But Dumbledore let me stay on as gamekeeper. Great man, Dumbledore. "

"Why were you expelled?" Clementine asked

"It's gettin' late and we've got lots ter do tomorrow," said Hagrid loudly. She supposed it was a bit rude to ask such a personal question- especially as they didn't know one another that well. "Gotta get up ter town, get all yer books an' that. "

He took off his thick black coat and threw it to Harry who nearly fell under its weight. Clementine just managed to step aside before it ruined the cake she was sure Hagrid had worked hard on.

"You can kip under that," he said. "Don' mind if it wriggles a bit, I think I still got a couple o' doormice in one o' the pockets."

About ten minutes later, Hagrid had fallen asleep on Dudley's couch which had collapsed under his weight, but it didn't seem to bother him. With the only person who would give them answers asleep, Harry and Clementine sat down on Clementine's blanket in front of the fire as they ate the cake; it was chocolate and very good.

"Do you suppose he's telling the truth?" Clementine asked, wiping icing from her mouth with the sleeve of her night dress.

Harry shrugged. "He did give Dudley a tail," Clementine figured he had a point.

"I can't believe you're a wizard,"

"I can't believe you're a witch," He responded and Clementine looked down at her messy fingers.

"I don't think I believe it much, either," She admitted. "I mean, it can't be true...right? Mum and dad have to be lying,"

"Then Hagrid is lying, too," Harry pointed out. "And why would he lie to you when he came all this way to tell me the truth?" Clementine shrugged. "Why can't you believe that you can't be special- is it because you don't want to be like me?"

"No!" Clementine denied immediately. "Of course not, why would you ask that? You're my cousin- my best friend; you're the most special person in my life."

Harry smiled only for it to wane after a moment. "What if this is a dream?" He asked and Clementine tilted her head to the side. "What if I go to sleep thinking I'm a wizard and wake up tomorrow morning in my cupboard?"

"That's not going to happen," She assured him. "We're going to wake up tomorrow morning and we'll still be in this cottage in the middle of the sea and Hagrid will still be asleep on the couch and Dudley will still have a tail," They laughed. "It's not a dream," Clementine told him. "I promise and I-"

"Never break promises," Harry finished.


	3. A Whole New World

_A whole new world_

_A dazzling place I never knew_

_But when I'm way up here_

_It's crystal clear_

_That now I'm in a whole new world with you_

* * *

"Hagrid, what's Harry's parents house look like?"

After waking up the next morning and having a nice breakfast with Hagrid, the giant had taken Clementine and Harry to London to get their school supplies. Harry had been kind enough to offer to pay for her things with the money Hagrid had told him his parents had left behind. Her father hadn't said anything to her when she had told him where she was going and her mother and brother followed his example.  
Hagrid had taken Clementine and Harry to a place he called Diagon Alley which was where every witch and wizard went to get magical items- as Hagrid had told her- to get money from the vault that had previously belonged to Harry's parents. Harry had offered to pay for anything she wanted, but Hagrid had insisted that hadn't been necessary.

A quick ride in the mining cart a few vaults away from Harry's had been another vault that belonged to Clementine. To clam her confusion, Hagrid had produced another letter from one of his many pockets. The letter had gone yellow with age, but the red wax that sealed the back had clearly spelled out the initials _LJP _which Clementine knew to stand for Lily Josephine Potter. The parchment inside had aged well and Clementine was able to read it easily.

_Dear Clementine,_

_I don't know how this letter should find you- I'm not even sure if it ever will, to be honest. However, I feel it is my duty to write this letter to you in order to help you navigate the strange world of magic you have most likely be thrust into._

_As I write this letter, you are note even a year old; I know this to be true as you're less than a month older than your cousin Harry. However, if I am correct- and I feel I am- you are eleven years old and you have received your letter from Hogwarts. With how things are between your mother and I, there is no saying how involved in your life I am, but that doesn't change the fact that you are my family._

_As you may or may not already know, normal people without an inkling of magic in their veins can produce children with the gift of magic; my own parents did it and now I believe my sister has, also. Currently she is in denial- for I know she never wanted anything to do with the world I live in since we were young children- but that does not change the fact that you- if I am correct in my assumptions- are a witch._

_Knowing my sister and your father, they will most likely be adamant that you do not attend Hogwarts, but if you're reading this letter you've chosen to do so anyway. Inside Vault 648, my husband had been generous enough to set aside enough money so that you may experience the wizarding world comfortably, along with a few of my personal favorite books and trinkets from my own time at school. Perhaps, with enough persuading, your mother will allow you to accompany Harry to our home for the holidays or for a few weeks during the summer so that I can tell you about my time there. I would very much like to get to know you better._

_You loving aunt,_

_Lily_

Clementine's aunt and uncle had left her a lot of money- how much, she hadn't been sure as she was still getting used to magical currency, but Clementine had been most grateful that they had taken the time to think about her and what she could become- especially with how her mother seemed to dislike her sister. It was a thoughtful thing that had left tears in her eyes when she thought about the woman she never got the chance to meet. Thinking about her was what had led to Clementine's question.

"The Potter's lived up in Godric's Hollow, they did," Hagrid answered as they walked. "'Course that was 'fer You-Know-Who 'stroyed it. Harry still owns it- 'long with the ol' Potter Esta',"

"Potter Estate?" Harry questioned. "My parents had an estate?"

Hagrid nodded. "It was more yer grandparen's, to be true," He insisted. "After they died from Dragon Pox, they lef' it ter yer dad, who lef' it ter you,"

Clementine looked to Harry with excitement. "You have an estate!" She told him before looking to Hagrid. "Can we go see it?" She asked, but the giant looked unsure.

"I dunno..."

"Please?!"

"Yes," Harry agreed. "Please? I'd like to see where my family lived,"

"Per'aps after we finish gettin' yer things," It wasn't a yes, but the two eleven year olds didn't press the matter.

After leaving Gringotts, Clementine and Harry had gone to get their uniforms as Hagrid had left them for a few moments to settle his stomach after being in the bank.

Madam Malkin was a squat, smiling witch dressed all in mauve. She was Clementine's size with wrinkled skin and poofy white hair that reminded her of a cats tail.

She noticed them immediately when they stepped in. "Hogwarts, dear?" she said, when Harry started to speak. "Got the lot here - another young man being fitted up just now, in fact."

In the back of the shop, a boy with a pale, pointed face was standing on a footstool while a second witch pinned up his long black robes. Madam Malkin stood Harry on a stool next to him slipped a long robe over his head, and began to pin it to the right length. While she worked on his robe, Madam Malkin turned to Clementine who stood awkwardly in the middle of the room. "You go on into the next room dear and I'll have someone with you in a moment."

With a smile, Clementine did as she was told and went into the adjoining room that was behind a large white curtain. There was another attendant working on a mannequin. There were a few more stools, but only two were in use by two girls; they both had light brown skin and long black their that went to their mid-backs. Their faces were identical, but had one or two differences that allowed someone to differentiate the two. Around them, scissors, a spool of thread, and pins worked in tandem with one another as they worked on the girls robes.

"Hello," One of them greeted causing the other to turn and see Clementine.

"Hello," Clementine replied as the woman who had been working on the mannequin led her over to the stool next to one of the girls. She had long black hair that Clementine was sure would be puddling on the floor if it wasn't in such a large and intricate braid and lightly tanned skin that was covered in tattoos- moving tattoos; a raven flew across her upper chest while a man with a guitar played his instrument on her collar bone; there was a little girl with a kite on her right arm and black flames licked up and down her left arm. She had to be, at least, twenty years older than Clementine.

"Are you here for your Hogwarts robes?" The woman asked and Clementine nodded.

"I'm Padma," The girl next to Clementine introduced while the woman put a long black robe over Clementine's head. "And this is my sister Parvati; we're getting out Hogwarts robes as well,"

"I'm Clementine," She introduced herself as another pair of scissors, thread, and pins began snipping and sewing her robe. "Does everyone in Britain go to Hogwarts?"

"And Ireland," Parvati nodded. "What house do you think you'll be in?"

"Parvarti wants to be in Hufflepuff," Padma said with a roll of her eyes.

"It's better than being in Ravenclaw with a bunch of know-it-all's." Parvati pointed out before turning to Clementine. "They're all so dull and boring; all they do for fun is study and make everyone feel stupid by correcting everyone."

"Priyanka was a Ravenclaw-" Padma started.

"I know," Parvati insisted before addressing the redhead again. "What house do you want to be in?" Clementine floundered as she tried to figure out what the two meant; were the houses they were talking about like classes? Or was it more like the dorm rooms at boarding school? Seeing the confusion on her face, Parvati looked to her sister. "I think she's a muggle-born,"

"Yes," Clementine agreed quickly with a nod of her head. Hagrid had told her and Harry about muggle-borns when he told them that Harry's mother had been one. _"It's in yer' blood,"_ The gentle giant had told her. "That's me- that's what I am,"

"I've never met a muggle-born before," Padma said with a large grin directed at her sister before looking to Clementine. "What's the muggle world like? My mother says they've put a man on the moon- without magic!"

Clementine nodded, "They used a rocket ship,"

"What's that?"

For the next twenty minutes, Clementine answered Padma's never ending questions as well as she could until their robes were done and they had to return to their mother who was waiting for them at a book store Clementine couldn't correctly pronounce. Her own robes had taken a bit longer after a pair of enchanted scissors had cut a large hole in the backside and the woman (who had introduced herself as Begonia) had insisted on starting over. By the time she was finished, the ice cream that Hagrid had gotten her (dark chocolate and raspberry with chopped walnuts) had melted. He had apologized and offered to get her a new one, but Clementine had refused although she had appreciated his offer.

"I met two girls who were also going to Hogwarts," Clementine had told Harry when they were entering Ollivander's Wand Shop after leaving the pet shop; Hagrid had gotten Harry a beautiful snowy white owl for his birthday. He had offered to get Clementine one, as her birthday had also passed, but she had passed after one of the other owls had gotten hold of one of her braids and tried to rip it from her head. The witch managing the store had used a spell to put the owl to sleep and had given Clementine her choice of pet whenever she wanted one. She doubted that she would be cashing in that promise any time soon.  
Harry had just finished telling her about the wizarding sport Quidditch and the Hogwarts houses Hagrid had told him about. "They're twins; Padma and Parvati. Parvati wants to be in Hufflepuff and Padma wants to be in Ravenclaw, but Parvati says that Ravenclaw is full of know-it-all's who only like to make people look stupid-"

"Oh, I wouldn't say they're all know-it-all's," A soft voice interrupted and Harry and Clementine looked to see an old man with wide pale eyes and shoulder length white hair. He reminded Clementine of her grandfather Klaus who- despite having a very rude son and daughter- was a very soft and gentle man. "A lot of them actually give trolls a run for their money when it comes to stupidity and ignorance,"

He stood in front of the counter in the tiny place where, what looked like, shoe boxes were stacked on shelves and anywhere else they could fit. Nothing seemed to be very organized, but Clementine didn't mention that. Instead she smiled and greeted the man. She also prompted Harry to do so by stepping on his foot and a hiss not to be rude.

"Hello," said Harry awkwardly and the man's eyes shifted to him.

"Ah yes," he said. "Yes, yes. I thought I'd be seeing you soon. Harry Potter." Clementine noticed that it wasn't a question. "You have your mother's eyes. It seems only yesterday she was in here herself, buying her first wand. Ten and a quarter inches long, swishy, made of willow. Nice wand for charm work."

Mr. Ollivander moved closer. Clementine couldn't help but notice that he had yet to blink.

"Your father, on the other hand, favored a mahogany wand. Eleven inches. Pliable. A little more power and excellent for transfiguration. Well, I say your father favored it - it's really the wand that chooses the wizard, of course. "

Mr. Ollivander was now so close that he and Harry were almost nose to nose. Harry's eyes flicked to Clementine and she looked to Hagrid who shook his head. She didn't know what that meant.

"And that's where..." Mr. Ollivander's long finger gently prodded at the scar on Harry's forehead. "I'm sorry to say I sold the wand that did it," he said softly. "Thirteen-and-a-half inches. Yew. Powerful wand, very powerful, and in the wrong hands. . . well, if I'd known what that wand was going out into the world to do..." He shook his head and then spotted Hagrid. His mood seemed to immediately lighten and Harry stepped to Clementine's side.

"Rubeus! Rubeus Hagrid! How nice to see you again," The old man smiled. "Your wand...Oak, sixteen inches, rather bendy, wasn't it?" Clementine looked at Harry. 'Sixteen inches?' she mouthed and he shrugged. She wondered how long the average wand was.

"It was, sir, yes," said Hagrid.

"Good wand, that one. But I suppose they snapped it in half when you got expelled?" said Mr. Ollivander, suddenly stern.

"Er - yes, they did, yes," said Hagrid, shuffling his feet. "I've still got the pieces, though," he added brightly.

"But you don't use them?" said Mr. Ollivander sharply.

"Oh, no, sir," said Hagrid quickly. Harry noticed he gripped his pink umbrella very tightly as he spoke. Mr. Ollivander didn't look as if he believed him before turning to Clementine.

"And you are?"

"Clementine," She answered quickly. "Clementine Dursley- I'm Harry's cousin,"

"...Yes," he began, his tone lightening. "I remember your mother," Clementine's eyebrows furrowed as she and Harry exchanged confused expressions.

"My mother?" She questioned, turning back to the old man. "My mother's not a witch,"

"Oh, I know," he insisted, "She came here just over twenty years ago with her sister and their parents when they came to get little Lily a wand," He gestured to the large wall of boxes to his left. "She took down this entire wall when she waved the wrong wand. It took hours to put all the wands in their correct boxes- even with magic,"

"...I'm sorry?" Clementine apologized with an confused air, but Mr. Ollivander simply shook his head and the smile returned to his lips.

"No matter," he insisted. "All in the past, but- just in case you have your mother's propensity for destruction- we'll find Mr. Potter's wand first." Clementine could feel her face get hot while the old man turned to her cousin. "Well, now - Mr. Potter. Let me see. " He pulled a long tape measure with silver markings out of his pocket. "Which is your wand arm?"

"Er - well, I'm right-handed," said Harry.

"Hold out your arm. That's it. " He measured Harry from shoulder to finger, then wrist to elbow, shoulder to floor, knee to armpit and round his head. As he measured, he said, "Every Ollivander wand has a core of a powerful magical substance, Mr. Potter. We use unicorn hairs, phoenix tail feathers, and the heartstrings of dragons. No two Ollivander wands are the same, just as no two unicorns, dragons, or phoenixes are quite the same. And of course, you will never get such good results with another wizard's wand."

"Why not?" Clementine asked as Mr. Ollivander went wandering around the shelves. He answered without looking at her.

"Every wand is unique," He said. "Just as every person- no matter how similar they look on the outside. Wands are the same, Right then, Mr. Potter." Mr. Ollivander returned with a wand that looked to be a few inches short of a foot. It was lighter in color and looked bendy. "Try this one. Beechwood and dragon heartstring. Nine inches. Nice and flexible. just take it and give it a wave. "

Harry took the wand and waved it around a bit, but Mr. Ollivander snatched it out of his hand almost at once. A moment he had a new wand in Harry's hand- shorter and lighter in color.

"Maple and phoenix feather. Seven inches. Quite whippy. Try-" But the moment Harry took it, Mr. Ollivander snatched away once more.

This continued and continued for, what seemed like, hours as the wands began piling higher and higher on the spindly chair- the only chair in the shop- but, instead of looking irritated or annoyed like Clementine expected, Mr. Ollivander seemed to get giddier with every wand he tossed to the side. She had since taken a seat on the floor.

"Tricky customer, eh?" He asked, "Not to worry, we'll find the perfect match here somewhere - I wonder, now - yes, why not - unusual combination - holly and phoenix feather, eleven inches, nice and supple. "

Harry took the wand and raised it above his head before he brought it swishing down through the dusty air and a stream of red and gold sparks shot from the end like a firework, throwing dancing spots of light on to the walls. Hagrid whooped and clapped and Mr. Ollivander cried, "Oh, bravo! Yes, indeed, oh, very good. Well, well, well. . . how curious. . . how very curious. . . "

He put Harry's wand back into its box and wrapped it in brown paper, still muttering, "Curious. . . curious. . .

"Sorry," said Harry, "but what's curious?"

Mr. Ollivander fixed Harry with his pale stare.

"I remember every wand I've ever sold, Mr. Potter. Every single wand. It so happens that the phoenix whose tail feather is in your wand, gave another feather - just one other. It is very curious indeed that you should be destined for this wand when its brother - why, its brother gave you that scar. "

Was he saying what Clementine thought he was saying? Was Harry's wand just like the one that had given him the scar- the one that had killed his parents? Why, out of every wand in the shop- why would that wand choose Harry.

"Yes, thirteen-and-a-half inches. Yew. Curious indeed how these things happen. The wand chooses the wizard, remember. . . I think we must expect great things from you, Mr. Potter. . . After all, He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named did great things - terrible, yes, but great." His mood change, yet again, as he clapped and turned to Clementine. "Your turn Ms. Dursley!"

Clementine didn't go through nearly as many as Harry did, but she caused a lot more trouble; by the time Mr. Ollivander handed Clementine a wand that filled her with a nice warm feeling and produced a brilliant blue light (Laurel wood with a Dragon core, 14 ¼" and Pliant flexibility), Clementine had managed to knock down the entire wall of wands that her mother managed to all those years ago and then some. Mr. Ollivander, however, seemed pleased by both the knocking down of his wall and the wand.

"I can tell by your wand that you will be a powerful and prudent witch, Ms. Dursley," He said as he wrapped her wand up. "You stray away from causing harm and you'll have only the best interest at heart, don't forget that," He said quietly, passing her the box.

Harry paid fourteen gold Galleons for their wand, and Mr. Ollivander bowed them from his shop.

"Mr. Ollivander is a strange man, isn't he?" Clementine asked and Hagrid chuckled.

* * *

At the end of their trip to Diagon Alley, Hagrid had decided to take Harry and Clementine to the Potter Estate under the stipulation that they tell no one as he was only supposed to take them to Diagon Alley and then straight back to Privet Drive. Harry and Clementine had promised not to tell; the last thing they wanted was to get Hagrid- who had gone out of his way for them several times- in trouble.

The Potter Estate sat on five thousand acres of land in the English countryside and looked most like a castle than whatever Clementine had been expecting.

Hagrid had driven down a very, very, very long Flagstone road just to get to the house; on either side of the road had been large, beautiful Blue Blossom trees that were such an incredible shade of bluish green that Clementine had spent the entire time watching the leaves shake in the wind during the drive. When the road finally did end, it led to into a large driveway of the same Flagstone and what was at the end of it took Clementine's breath away; As a young girl who spent a disproportionate amount of her time dreaming about knights, unicorns, and fairy tales, Potter Manor looked like a dream come true.

Hagrid stopped in front of the manor and the three of them climbed up the long stone steps up to the twenty foot double doors that were made from beautiful dark wood and had iron ivy leaves crawling up them. Hagrid pushed it open with ease and the three stepped in.

The floor was made from white marble and a dusty, expensive looking black and floral carpet stretched from underneath a small table that held a vase of dead red roses and sunflowers that sat underneath a large crystal chandelier all the way to the front of the grand staircase. There were dozens of paintings on the walls of the foyer and they all varied in size; one was taller than Hagrid while another was probably the size of the small tv screen that sat in Clementine's dining room. She couldn't see what the paintings were because they all had sheets draped over them.

The rest of the manor was just as grand and dusty; the dining room could probably fit all of Clementine and Harry's class with the long mahogany take it housed; the kitchen looked like it was built for thirty cooks instead of one or two; the living area, solarium, and parlor were all bigger than Clementine's house and the hallways were as big as streets. Neither Harry or Clementine had been able to keep track of every room they went into as there were many.

"Clementine!" Harry called and the redhead poked her head out of the room she was looking through. "Come look!"

"What is it?" She asked as she made her way over to the room Harry had disappeared into. "Whoa..."

The bedroom, like all the others, was large and Clementine could only imagine that it was what every young wizard's bedroom looked like; there were posters of Quidditch (a sport Parvati had told her about at Madam Malkins) players on the wall along with bands that Clementine assumed consisted of wizards and witches (why else would someone name their band the Hobgoblins?). There were other normal things like a bed, dressers, and a large trunk overflowing with books, rolls of parchment, and other miscellaneous things. Despite the number of things in the trunk, Clementine couldn't help but feel like the room was bare; she could tell that there were things missing like photos from the walls and the top side of the dressers, maybe some clothes, and other personal items to tell who lived in the room.

"Whose room is this?" She wondered aloud.

"I think...I think it was my dads," Harry answered as Clementine wandered over to the trunk. "If this was my grandparents house and I do't have any other witch or wizard aunts and uncles, then this must've been my dad's room."

"Clearly," Harry looked to see that she had a leather bound journal in her hands. "Listen to this; _Evans looked particularly beautiful in Charms today and I had told her so...Unfortunately for me, I had the misfortune of having a prat for a friend. The moment I opened my mouth, Padfoot spelled me to only speak in rude rhymes- a spell we had put on the sorting hat the year before. The second I called Evans a _"Redheaded twit faster than the golden snitch"_ she stomped on my foot and cursed me good. I honestly didn't mind- Evans has always looked the most beautiful when she's angry- but that was before Professor McGonagall came over and I called her a few words that I refuse to repeat. Suffice to say, Evans has vowed not to speak to me for the rest of the year and I have been given detention until New Years... I suppose there's always next year to make Evans fall in love with me,"_." Clementine snorted. "Your father was a real charmer," Harry shrugged. "I wonder who Padfoot is,"

"He sounds like a git," Harry said and Clementine laughed. Putting the book down, Clementine began going through the rest of the trunk as Harry joined her. "None of these other books belong to my dad,"

"I think they're your mums," Clementine had seen the name Lily Evans scrawled neatly in several of them already. "I suppose she was the type who never threw anything away- perhaps they lived here before they got married?"

"Maybe," The two were interrupted by Hagrid who had been searching for them for some time but had gotten lost in the maze of a house. He told them that it was time to leave and that he would deliver anything they wanted from the house before they left for Hogwarts; Harry had chosen to take his fathers posters and a few keepsakes he had found in the closet while Clementine had asked for the trunk of books that belonged to her aunt. Sure, they were dated and she had no use for them, but they weren't all school books and Clementine wanted to know all she could about magic.

After taking their chosen items to the foyer, Hagrid had gotten back onto his flying motercyle as Harry and Clementine sat together inside of the sidecar before Hagrid revved the engine and they took off down the lane of Blossom trees.

* * *

Between the time that Hagrid had shown up with Harry and Clementine's letters and the time that school would actually start was a full month.

Harry had been able to get through it easily; his Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon had always ignored him. The only difference was that Dudley was too afraid to come near him after he had gotten home from the hospital (he had needed a surgery to get the pigs tail off) and Harry didn't mind one bit. With his cousin as company, it was a major improvement on his previous living conditions.

Clementine, however, was not doing as well as Harry.

She had never realized how much she had liked her parents love and affection until it had been taken away from her; after she had returned from Potter Manor, they hadn't spoken a single word to her no matter how hard she tried to get them to speak. Dudley would shriek and run from any room she entered and her father was barely managing to contain his anger. Her mother, however, would cry all the time; she could hear her at night crying that Clementine would turn out just like Lily- that the magical world would take her just like it had taken her sister. Clementine had never felt worse in her life, but she never even thought about changing her mind. That made her feel even worse. The only thing that managed to cheer her up, even a little, was Harry who had distracted her with the books from his grandparents home.

Harry himself hadn't found any particular interest in them, but Clementine had found them fascinating; after reading all of her school books, she had read the ones from her aunt and uncle's school years and then the other books her Aunt Lily had collected. Some were about potion ingredients, others were about spells to make a household run better, some were fiction books about dragons and mermaids, but Clementine's favorite had been _101 Harmless Curses and Spells_. It was Clementine's favorite because her aunt had written notes in the margins about how to tweak certain spells to make them stronger, last longer or do slightly different things, and others had notes about who to cast them on; one spell to make body hair grow exceptionally fast had been circled and had a small note next to it that read; "Revenge on Black for turning my hair into fire". Harry had found it just as funny as Clementine did.

At half past ten on the first of September, Clementine and Harry quietly got into the her father's car before her and her mother drove them to Kings Cross Station. The entire ride was filled with silence that no one dared break and Clementine was beginning to feel the effect of her decision to go to Hogwarts; she was certain that her parents no longer loved her.

Her father dumped both her and Harry's trunks into two carts- with Harry's bird (who he had named Hedwig) in her cage on top- and wheeled them into the station It was an oddly nice gesture that Clementine knew would be the last the moment they stopped between Platform nine and Platform ten and she saw the nasty grin on his face.

"Well, here you are," He announced before gesturing to the two platforms. "Platform nine - platform ten. Your platform should be somewhere in the middle, but they don't seem to have built it yet, do they?" Clementine and Harry said nothing. "Have a good term," And with that, Clementine's father began to stride out of the station with a smug look on his face, not even sparing a glance back at his daughter and nephew. Clementine was sure that her mother was set to do the same, but, before she left, she pulled Clementine into a hug that the young girl quickly accepted and returned.

"Walk into the barrier," She whispered and Clementine's eyebrows furrowed. What did that mean? "You have to go through the brick wall in order to get onto the platform."

"I don't know-" But, just like that, Petunia's cold demeanor was back and she was following her husband out of station. Completely at a loss, Clementine turned to her cousin.

"What did she say to you?"

"...She said to go through the brick wall," Harry looked at the brick wall that was behind him before looking back to the redhead.

"Well, that's mean-"

"No," Clementine said quickly as she stepped past Harry and looked up at the wall. "She said that we have to go through the brick wall in order to get onto the platform," She looked back at him. "Do you think that she's been there?" She asked quickly.

"Been where?"

"Platform nine and three-quarters," She elaborated. "Back when your mum was going to school- my mum must have gone through, too. Otherwise, she wouldn't know how to get on!"

"She could be lying!" Harry insisted as Clementine rushed back to her cart. Hedwig hooted as she went past and grabbed onto the handle of her cart. Without hesitance, she began running forward at a pace that would leave her with a permanent head injury if she hit the wall. "Clementine w-!"

But Harry's voice cut off as Clementine ran into the wall. One moment she was there inside of Kings Cross Station and the next she was on the outside of a train station with a large scarlet steam engine. There were dozens of other children and parents walking about wearing wizard robes, carrying owls, and brandishing their wands out in the open. Looking behind her at the magical barrier she had just come through, she saw Harry come through the same wall.

"Look," She said with a large grin and Harry followed her gaze to a wrought-iron archway where the barrier had been, with the words Platform Nine and Three-Quarters on it, "Platform Nine and Three-Quarters!"

"We're here," Harry breathed out.

Getting on the train was a bit harder that either of them expected it to be- mostly because they had gotten separated; because most of the compartments were already full, Clementine had went to find an empty one for her and Harry and had found one near the end of the train. After getting her own trunk in, Clementine had felt the urge to use the bathroom so Harry had told her that he could do his own by his self. On her way back to their compartment, Clementine had gotten distracted when she came upon two familiar faces amongst a group of seven.

"Clementine!" Padma's voice called out when the redhead had began to pass the open doorway of their compartment. "Parvati, look! It's Clementine- come in!" Before she could even protest, Padma had dragged Clementine into the compartment and down into the empty spot between herself and a girl with lot of bushy brown hair that was bigger than her head.

"Hello, again." Parvati greeted and Clementine gave a small wave.

"We met Clementine had Madam Malkin's when we were getting our robes," Padma told the others in the compartment before looking at the other people in the compartment. "Clementine, this is Hermione," The bushy haired give gave a confident 'Hello' back, "Neville," Neville was a slightly chubby boy with dark brown hair. He looked nervous. "Lavender," A young girl with light, curly brown hair and a sweet smile. "Cho," Cho was an Asian girl with long black hair that sat over shoulders. Much like Neville, she looked nervous. "And that's Hannah," Hannah had short blonde hair that stopped just before her shoulders and a friendly smile as she hled out a hand to Clementine. "Clementine, why don't you sit in here with us?" Padma suggested.

Momentarily forgetting about her cousin, Clementine smiled and agreed.

Hours passed by as the girls chatted; Lavender had told Clementine and Hermione (who was also a muggle-born witch) about growing up in a small wizarding community not far from London and she and Parvarti had broken off into the own conversation when the latter of the two mentioned seeing a unicorn when she went camping with her older sister before school started. Hermione had talked about the things she had read about in her books over the summer and- surprisingly- knew more than some of the other girls who had grown up with magic. Cho had been quiet, much like Neville who had said a few things about his toad (Trevor) before keeping silent. Clementine spent most of her time talking to Padma and Hannah as the latter of the two had spent half her life in muggle communities as her mother was a muggle. By the time Clementine remembered Harry, the train was close to Hogwarts.

"I'm so sorry I forgot you," Clementine apologized a she stood at the door. She didn't know how Hermione had ended up with her cousin and a long nosed redheaded boy, but didn't question it. "I saw two girls that I met at Madam Malkin's and I lost track of time,"

"That's alright," Harry insisted and Clementine was relieved to see that he wasn't upset. "Ron kept me company," He looked from his cousin to the redheaded boy. "Ron, this is my cousin Clementine. Clementine, this is Ron Weasley,"

"Nice to meet you," Clementine offered with a smile before looking back to Hermione. "Hannah says that we'll be at Hogwarts soon," At that Hermione jumped up.

"I should get change," She said before darting from the compartment. Once she was gone, Clementine got into the compartment and close the door behind her.

"Whatever house I'm in, I hope she's not in it," said Ron and Clementine shot him an offended look.

"That's completely rude," She told him. "I know she can be a little...much sometimes, but she's just excited." Ron just shrugged as he threw his wand back into his trunk.

"What house are your brothers in?" asked Harry and Clementine looked to Ron. He had been rude about Hermione, but Harry seemed to like him, so she didn't want to get off on the wrong foot.

"You have brothers?"

"Five," He answered. "Charlie and Bill have already gone, but I've still got Percy, Fred, and George- I've go a little sister, too, but she won't get into Hogwarts until next year. All my brothers got sorted into Gryffindor. Mom and Dad were in it, too. I don't know what they'll say if I'm not. I don't suppose Ravenclaw would be too bad, but imagine if they put me in Slytherin."

"That's the house Vol-, I mean, You-Know-Who was in?" Harry asked.

"Yeah," said Ron. He flopped back into his seat.

"Is everyone in Slytherin evil?" Clementine asked. She had read in one of the books she had found while shopping for her school essentials, that not everyone sorted into Slytherin had turned out evil- that most went on to become Aurors (wizard police), healers (wizard doctors), and other well-meaning jobs, but she wanted to know what Ron thought. With him having grown up around wizards, she figured that his thoughts cold be what a lot of other wizards thought.

"Nearly," He answered sounding miserable. Clementine was going to ask more, but Harry was quicker than she was.

"You know, I think the ends of Scabbers' whiskers are a bit lighter," He said. "So what do your oldest brothers do now that they've left, anyway?"

"Charlie's in Romania studying dragons, and Bill's in Africa doing something for Gringotts," said Ron. "Did you hear about Gringotts? It's been all over the Daily Prophet, but I don't suppose you get that with the Muggles - someone tried to rob a high security vault. "

"Really? What happened to them?"

"Nothing, that's why it's such big news. They haven't been caught. My dad says it must've been a powerful Dark wizard to get round Gringotts, but they don't think they took anything, that's what's odd. 'Course, everyone gets scared when something like this happens in case You-Know-Who's behind it. "

"I thought You-Know-Who was dead?" Clementine asked when she noticed that Harry was too much into his own head to ask anything,"

"That's what a lot of people think," Was the answer she thought. "But some people think he just went into hiding," _Like Hagrid_, Clementine thought, remembering how scared the giant had sounded when he spoke out Voldemort in the Leaky Cauldron.

"What's your Quidditch team?" Ron asked suddenly.

"I've been told that I would like the Hollyhead Harpies," That was Padma's team. "And the Montrose Magpies," That was Hannah's favorite team.

While Clementine had had an answer ready, Harry had not. "Er - I don't know any. " And, just like that, Ron was off, explaining all about the four balls and the positions of the seven players, describing famous games he'd been to with his brothers and the broomstick he'd like to get if he had the money. His brothers- Fred and George- were apparently on the Gryffindor Quidditch team (both of them were beaters) and Ron himself wanted to eventually join the team.

He was just taking Harry and Clementine through the finer points of the game when the compartment door slid open yet again, but it wasn't Hermione this time.

Three boys entered, and Clementine recognized only one of them: he had been at Madam Malkin's robe shop when she and Harry were getting their robes; he was the same size as the red of them with white blonde hair slicked back, showing off the widows peak on his forehead which was a bit large. He was looking at Harry with interest.

"Is it true?" He asked. "They're saying all down the train that Harry Potter's in this compartment. So it's you, is it?"

"Yes," Harry answer, but he was looking at the other boys. Both of them were thickset and looked extremely mean. They reminded Clementine of Dudley and his friend; the two boys standing on either side of their leader like bodyguards.

"Oh, this is Crabbe and this is Goyle," said the boy carelessly, noticing where Harry was looking. "And my name's Malfoy, Draco Malfoy. "

"Hello," Clementine said while Ron gave a slight cough, which might have been hiding a snigger. Draco Malfoy looked at him.

"Think my name's funny, do you? No need to ask who you and your ugly sister are. My father told me all the Weasleys have red hair, freckles, and more children than they can afford." Clementine's mouth popped open at his rudeness while Ron's face went red with embarrassment. Satisfied, Draco looked back to Harry. "You'll soon find out some wizarding families are much better than others, Potter. You don't want to go making friends with the wrong sort. I can help you there. "

He held out his hand to shake Harry's, but Harry didn't take it.

"I think I can tell who the wrong sort are for myself, thanks," he said coolly.

Draco Malfoy didn't go as red as Ron, but a pink tinge appeared in his pale cheeks. Harry's rejection seemed to make Ron feel better as most of the red began to leave his face. Clementine supposed that he wasn't used to people choosing him over others.

"I'd be careful if I were you, Potter," Draco warned. "Unless you're a bit politer you'll go the same way as your parents. They didn't know what was good for them, either. You hang around with riffraff like the Weasleys and that Hagrid, and it'll rub off on you." Both Harry and Ron stood up, but before anything could happen, another boy appeared behind Draco and his friends.

The new boy was taller than all the other first years, but only by a few inches. Clementine could see a few similarities between him and Draco (the same nose, eye color, ear shape, etc.) but the new boy had black hair that fell over his ears and stopped just before the point of his chin. He looked at the back of Draco's head with an annoyed look in his blue eyes.

"Bullying boys into being your friend again, Draco?" He asked and Draco whirled around with his friends. Clementine could see that all the smug confidence and bravado had disappeared.

"N-No, I-"

"What would mother say?" The boy sighed, shaking his head mockingly. "Not even off the train yet and I've had to write home about your deplorable behavior-"

"I didn't-" But Draco shut his mouth with a look from, who Clementine suspected was, his brother.

"We're almost at the castle," The boy said as he moved aside. "Go back to your compartment and get dressed. If I find you posturing around again, I'll make sure mother sends you a howler during the feast tonight," No one moved. "GO!" Scrambling, Draco pushed his friends back as he rushed out of the compartment with them falling over themselves to follow. With his brother gone, the boy looked to Ron's hair, Clementine's hair and then Harry's scar which was barely visible through his hair. "Good day," Then he left.

"Who was that?" Clementine asked a few moments after they'd all gone.

"Draco and Arcturus Malfoy," Ron spat. "I've heard of their family; They were some of the first to come back to our side after You-Know-Who disappeared. Said they'd been bewitched. My dad doesn't believe it. He says the Malfoys father didn't need an excuse to go over to the Dark Side." Clementine wanted to point out that their parents had nothing to do with who they were as people, but recognized that it wasn't something either Harry or Ron wanted to hear at the moment.

"We'd better hurry up and put our robes on," She insisted. "We should be nearly there."

After dressing in their robes, Harry, Ron, and Clementine crammed sweets (which they gave no explanation for) into their pockets before joining the crowd thronging the corridor.

The train slowed right down and finally stopped. People pushed their way toward the door and out on to a tiny, dark platform. Even with her robes on, Clementine was freezing, wondering why they had stopped so far from the castle. Why wouldn't the train take them all the way to it?

"Firs' years! Firs' years over here!" A loud, familiar voice boomed. A head popped up over the head of the rest of the first years and Clementine smiled at Hagrid. "C'mon, follow me - any more firs' years? Mind yer step, now! Firs' years follow me!"

Slipping and stumbling, they followed Hagrid down what seemed to be a steep, narrow path. It was dangerously dark and it was playing tricks on Clementine's head; even with everyone else around, she couldn't help but feel that there were things out in the forest- watching them all.

"Yeh'll get yer firs' sight o' Hogwarts in a sec," Hagrid called over his shoulder, "jus' round this bend here. "

There was a loud "Oooooh!" as the narrow path opened onto the edge of a great black lake. Perched atop a high mountain on the other side, its windows sparkling in the starry sky, was a vast castle with many turrets and towers.

"No more'n four to a boat!" Hagrid called, pointing to a fleet of little boats sitting in the water by the shore. Clementine followed Harry and Ron to a boat and was glad to see that Hermione had also joined them. Hagrid, who was at the front, had his own boat. "Everyone in?" He shouted. "Right then - FORWARD!" And, just like that, the fleet of little boats moved off all at once, gliding across the lake, which was as smooth as glass. Everyone was silent, staring up at the great castle overhead. It towered over them as they sailed nearer and nearer to the cliff on which it stood.

"Heads down!" yelled Hagrid as the first boats reached the cliff; they all bent their heads and the little boats carried them through a curtain of ivy that hid a wide opening in the cliff face. They were carried along a dark tunnel, which seemed to be taking them right underneath the castle, until they reached a kind of underground harbor, where they clambered out onto rocks and pebbles.

"Oy, you there! Is this your toad?" said Hagrid, who was checking the boats as people climbed out of them.

"Trevor!" cried Neville blissfully, holding out his hands. Then they clambered up a passageway in the rock after Hagrid's lamp, coming out at last onto smooth, damp grass right in the shadow of the castle.

They walked up a flight of stone steps and crowded around the huge, oak front door.

"Everyone here? You there, still got yer toad?" Neville nodded and Clementine had never seen anyone look happier than at that moment. Satisfied that he had everyone, Hagrid raised a gigantic fist and knocked three times on the castle door.


	4. How Far I'll Go

_See the line where the sky meets the sea? It calls me_

_And no one knows, how far it goes_

_If the wind in my sail on the sea stays behind me_

_One day I'll know, if I go there's just no telling how far I'll go_

* * *

The door swung open at once. A tall, black-haired witch in emerald-green robes stood there. She had a very stern face that reminded Clementine of a less intense version of her mother.

"The firs' years, Professor McGonagall," said Hagrid.

"Thank you, Hagrid. I will take them from here."

She pulled the door wide. The entrance hall was so big you could have fit the whole of the Clementine's house in it. The stone walls were lit with flaming torches like the ones at Gringotts, the ceiling was too high to make out, and a magnificent marble staircase facing them led to the upper floors.

They followed Professor McGonagall across the flagged stone floor and to a small, empty chamber off the hall. They crowded in, standing rather closer together than they would usually have done, peering about nervously.

"Ouch, you're on my foot!" Clementine hissed as she pushed Ron off of her. He apologized, but Hermione shushed them as the old woman- Professor McGonagall began speaking.

"Welcome to Hogwarts," She said. "The start-of-term banquet will begin shortly, but before you take your seats in the Great Hall, you will be sorted into your houses. The Sorting is a very important ceremony because, while you are here, your house will be something like your family within Hogwarts. You will have classes with the rest of your house, sleep in your house dormitory, and spend free time in your house common room." Clementine couldn't help but look at Padma; if she got into Ravenclaw like she wanted, would she and Clementine still be allowed to be friends? The redhead was beginning to feel less and less sure about Hogwarts the further she went.

"The four houses are called Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. Each house has its own noble history and each has produced outstanding witches and wizards. While you are at Hogwarts, your triumphs will earn your house points, while any rulebreaking will lose house points. At the end of the year, the house with the most points is awarded the house cup, a great honor. I hope each of you will be a credit to whichever house becomes yours.

"The Sorting Ceremony will take place in a few minutes in front of the rest of the school. I suggest you all smarten yourselves up as much as you can while you are waiting. "

Professor McGonagall's eyes lingered for a moment on Neville's cloak, which was somehow fastened under his left ear, and on Ron's smudged nose. To her left she saw Harry try to flatten his hair. She didn't know why he bothered; his hair never stayed flat.

"I shall return when we are ready for you," said Professor McGonagall. "Please wait quietly. " Once she left the chamber, the other first years immediately began talking amongst themselves.

"How exactly do they sort us into houses?" Harry asked Ron.

"Some sort of test, I think. Fred said it hurts a lot, but I think he was joking." Clementine doubted any of the teachers would be allowed to cause harm to them for the sake of sorting them. Seeing the distress on her cousins face, she took his hand and he looked at her.

"It's going to be fine," She assured him. "Your name's been on the list for Hogwarts since you were born- just like Hagrid said."

She could see that he words helped, but not by much. However, everyone's attention was taken by screams that sounded behind them. Clementine and the others whirled around to see- what she could only describe as- ghosts running through the back wall of the room; Pearly-white and slightly transparent, they glided across the room talking to one another and hardly glancing at the first years. They seemed to be arguing. What looked like a fat little monk was saying: "Forgive and forget, I say, we ought to give him a second chance-"

"My dear Friar, haven't we given Peeves all the chances he deserves? He gives us all a bad name and you know, he's not really even a ghost - I say, what are you all doing here?"

A ghost wearing a ruff and tights had suddenly noticed the first years.

Nobody answered.

"New students!" said the Fat Friar, smiling around at them. "About to be Sorted, I suppose?"

A few people nodded mutely.

"Hope to see you in Hufflepuff!" said the Friar. "My old house, you know."

"Move along now," said a sharp voice. "The Sorting Ceremony's about to start. "

Professor McGonagall had returned. One by one, the ghosts floated away through the opposite wall.

"Now, form a line," Professor McGonagall told the first years, "and follow me."

With everyone pushing, Harry and Clementine were separated as a line formed and she found herself a few spaces behind him between Hannah and Neville who had put his toad into the pockets of his robes.

If Harry's family's estate was grand, Hogwarts was opulent; the room was lit by thousands and thousands of white candles that were floating in midair over four long tables, where the rest of the students were sitting. These tables were laid with glittering golden plates and goblets. At the top of the hall was another long table where the teachers were sitting. Professor McGonagall led the first years up here, so that they came to a halt in a line facing the other students, with the teachers behind them. Dotted here and there among the students, the ghosts shone misty silver. "Its bewitched to look like the sky outside," Clementine heard Hermione whisper quietly and she followed her gaze to see the starry night sky. "I read about it in Hogwarts, A History."

Looking forward once more, Clementine saw that a tall stool had been place in front of the group. Professor McGonagall placed a pointed wizard's hat on top; it was patched and frayed and extremely dirty like the clothes Harry used to wear before Clementine's mother began giving him Dudley's hand-me-downs.  
For a few seconds, there was complete silence. Then the hat twitched. A rip near the brim opened wide like a mouth - and the hat began to sing:

"Oh, you may not think I'm pretty,

But don't judge on what you see,

I'll eat myself if you can find

A smarter hat than me.

You can keep your bowlers black,

Your top hats sleek and tall,

For I'm the Hogwarts Sorting Hat

And I can cap them all.

There's nothing hidden in your head

The Sorting Hat can't see,

So try me on and I will tell you

Where you ought to be.

You might belong in Gryffindor,

Where dwell the brave at heart,

Their daring, nerve, and chivalry

Set Gryffindors apart;

You might belong in Hufflepuff,

Where they are just and loyal,

Those patient Hufflepuffs are true

And unafraid of toil;

Or yet in wise old Ravenclaw, if you've a ready mind,

Where those of wit and learning,

Will always find their kind;

Or perhaps in Slytherin

You'll make your real friends,

Those cunning folk use any means

To achieve their ends.

So put me on! Don't be afraid!

And don't get in a flap!

You're in safe hands (though I have none)

For I'm a Thinking Cap!"

The whole hall burst into applause as the hat finished its song. It bowed to each of the four tables and then became quite still again.

"So we've just got to try on the hat!" Ron whispered to Harry. "I'll kill Fred, he was going on about wrestling a troll." Clementine could see Harry looked a bit more relaxed than he had before the ceremony began, but not entirely untroubled.

Professor McGonagall now stepped forward holding a long roll of parchment.

"When I call your name, you will put on the hat and sit on the stool to be sorted," she said. "Abbott, Hannah!"

Hannah's eyes widened as she stepped out of line and made her way to the stool. She put on the hat and it fell right down over her eyes. After a few moments of silence, the hat shouted out; "HUFFLEPUFF!" The table on the right cheered and clapped as Hannah went to sit down at the Hufflepuff table. Clementine couldn't help but think of Hannah as another friend she would never get to know.

"Bones, Susan!"

"HUFFLEPUFF!" shouted the hat again, and Susan scuttled off to sit next to Hannah.

"Boot, Terry!"

"RAVENCLAW!" The table second from the left clapped this time; several Ravenclaws stood up to shake hands with Terry as he joined them.

"Brocklehurst, Mandy" went to Ravenclaw too, but "Brown, Lavender" became the first new Gryffindor, and the table on the far left exploded with cheers as Lavender went to sit with them.

"Bulstrode, Millicent" then became a Slytherin. She went over to the table on the far left. They didn't look to bad of a lot- Clementine could see Draco's brother Arcturus sitting among them. As if he knew someone was looking at him, he turned his head and his blue eyes met her green ones. Immediately looking away, she watched as "Crothers, Allison" became a Ravenclaw.

About a dozen other kids went up before it was her turn; "Dursley, Clementine!" Professor McGonagall called out and she stepped out of line before going to the stool. Pulling herself up slowly, she tried to ignore the twisting feeling in her stomach as the elderly woman placed the hat on her head.

"_Hmmm,_" She heard a gravely voice say and she could tell it was coming from the hat. She, however, seemed to be the only one who heard it. "You're going to be a tough one," The voice said. "_You're smart, focused- a great Ravenclaw you'd make, but you'd do well in Huffelpuff, too; helpful and kind to all. Always giving the benefit of doubt and understanding_.

"_However_," The voice said. "_You have a level of protectiveness I have not seen in a very, very long time. Helga Hufflepuff and Godric Gryffindor would spend hours fighting over you,_" Clementine didn't know where she wanted to go; she knew that Harry would probably end up in Hufflepuff or Gryffindor and she wanted to be there for him, but he would have Ron to watch over him. If she and Padma both managed to get into Hufflepuff, Clementine would have her first friend who wasn't Harry. "Interesting," The voice mused as if it heard her thoughts. "_It takes kindness to sacrifice personal happiness for someone else', but- at the same time- it takes a different kind of bravery to choose your own happiness over someone else's. It's a thin line between bravery and selfishness, so I suppose you should go to..._"

"GRYFFINDOR!" The hat yelled out a the Gryffindor house table erupted into applause as the hat was taken off of her head and she made her way over to them. A space was made for her and Clementine sat down between a taller dark skinned girl and a shorter Asian girl with long black hair.

"Finch-Fletchley, Justin!"

"HUFFLEPUFF!"

"Finnigan, Seamus!"

"GRYFFINDOR!"

"Granger, Hermione!"

Hermione almost ran to the stool and jammed the hat eagerly on her head.

"GRYFFINDOR!" shouted the hat. The hat was taken off of her head and Hermioned rushed over to the table and sat next to Clementine.

The ceremony continued on and Gryffindor got Neville and Parvati, but Padma was put into Ravenclaw. After a few more people were sorted, it was Harry's turn.

"Potter, Harry!"

As Harry stepped forward, whispers suddenly broke out like little hissing fires all over the hall.

"Potter, did she say?"

"_The_ Harry Potter?" The girl next to Clementine whispered to a redheaded boy and everyone watched as he walked up to the stool. Before the hat went over his head, Clementine tried to send him an encouraging look. The hat only took about thirty seconds to sort Harry into; "GRYFFINDOR!"

The Gryffindor table erupted into cheers as Harry came over and a tall redheaded boy stood and shook his hand as two more (who were identical) began yelling, "We got Potter! We got Potter!" Harry sat down across from Clementine and she gave him large grin. He returned it and Clementine was glad to see a smile on his face.

There were only four other people left in line both Ron and a tall dark skinned boy named Dean Thomas became Gryffindors while Lisa Turpin became a Ravenclaw. Blaise Zabini became a Slytherin. afterwards, the hat was put away and a tall man with white hair and a matching long beard wearing powder blue robes stood to give a speech with a large smile on his face.

"Welcome," he boomed. "Welcome to a new year at Hogwarts! Before we begin our banquet, I would like to say a few words. And here they are: Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak! Thank you!"

Everybody clapped and cheered as he sat down, and Clementine clapped along although she had no idea what had just happened.

"Is he - a bit mad?" Harry asked the redhead boy who had shaken his hand.

"Mad?" asked the boy airily. "He's a genius! Best wizard in the world! But he is a bit mad, yes. Potatoes, Harry?"

Both Harry and Clementine's mouths fell open when they looked down to the table; The dishes in front of him were now piled with food. He had never seen so many things he liked to eat on one table: roast beef, roast chicken, pork chops and lamb chops, sausages, bacon and steak, boiled potatoes, roast potatoes, fries, Yorkshire pudding, peas, carrots, gravy, ketchup, and, for some strange reason, peppermint humbugs.

After dinner was done, the food that remained disappeared and was replaced by deserts; Blocks of ice cream in every flavor you could think of, apple pies, treacle tarts, chocolate eclairs and jam doughnuts, trifle, strawberries, Jell-O, rice pudding. . .

As desert commenced, everyone began talking about their families.

"I'm half-and-half," said Seamus Finnegan. "Me dad's a Muggle. Mom didn't tell him she was a witch 'til after they were married. Bit of a nasty shock for him." The others laughed as Seamus looked to Clementine. "How 'bout you?"

"I'm a muggle born," She told everyone. "Neither of my parents were very happy about it, though,"

"Well, they ought to be," Ron interjected. "Having a wizard in the family would be wicked for a muggle."

"My parents hate everything that isn't normal," Clementine told him. Ron shrugged before turning to Neville to ask about his family. Clementine decided to try one of the deserts on the table and decided on cheesecake. She had just cut off a large slice and put it on her plate when, suddenly-

"Ouch!" Clementine looked up from her plate to see Harry with a hand clapped a hand to his head. His face was pinched in pain.

"Are you okay?" Clementine asked and Harry hesitantly nodded.

"I'm fine," He confirmed as he lowed his hand. "I-It was nothing. Who's that teacher talking to Professor Quirrell?" he asked, turning to the redheaded boy who Clementine had learned was Ron's third eldest brother Percy.

"Oh, you know Quirrell already, do you?" Percy asked, following Harry's gaze and Clementine followed it to see the squirrelly, stuttering man who she and Harry had met when Hagrid had taken them to the Leaky Cauldron before heading into Diagon Alley. "No wonder he's looking so nervous, that's Professor Snape." Clementine's assumed that was the man who sat beside Quirrel; he was pale with shoulder length black hair and wrinkles that made Clementine think he was near her mother's age. "He teaches Potions, but he doesn't want to - everyone knows he's after Quirrell's job. Knows an awful lot about the Dark Arts, Snape."

"They teach Dark Arts here?" Clementine asked and Percy shook his head.

"Defense Against The Dark Arts," He corrected. "Teaches us to defend ourselves against spells- best class if you want to become an Auror,"

"What's that?"

"They're witches and wizards who fight dark witches and wizards," Percy answered. "They keep the peace,"

"Oh, they're police," Percy nodded before turning back to Hermione who he had been talking to about classes.

After about twenty minutes, the desserts disappeared like the dinner dishes had, and Professor Dumbledore got to his feet again. The hall fell silent and Clementine looked around to see everyone looking at the headmaster with undivided attention.

"Ahem - just a few more words now that we are all fed and watered," He began. "I have a few start-of-term notices to give you; "First years should note that the forest on the grounds is forbidden to all pupils. And a few of our older students would do well to remember that as well." Professor Dumbledore's eyes went to the two redheaded twins. Clementine had learned that they were also Ron's brothers and she had begun to realize why Draco had assumed she was related to him. "I have also been asked by Mr. Filch, the caretaker, to remind you all that no magic should be used between classes in the corridors. Quidditch trials will be held in the second week of the term. Anyone interested in playing for their house teams should contact Madam Hooch." He gestured to a woman with a small pixie-like face and matching graying hair who sat at the table near Professor McGonagall. "And finally, I must tell you that this year, the third-floor corridor on the right-hand side is out of bounds to everyone who does not wish to die a very painful death."

Harry and Clementine both laughed, but they were two of the few who did.

"He's not serious?" Harry muttered to Percy.

"Must be," said Percy, frowning at Dumbledore. "It's odd, because he usually gives us a reason why we're not allowed to go somewhere - the forest's full of dangerous beasts, everyone knows that. I do think he might have told us prefects, at least. "

"And now, before we go to bed, let us sing the school song!" cried Dumbledore. Dumbledore gave his wand a little flick, as if he was trying to get a fly off the end, and a long golden ribbon flew out of it, which rose high above the tables and twisted itself, snakelike, into words. "Everyone pick their favorite tune," He instructed and Clementine's eyebrows furrowed as did a few of her friends, "and off we go!"

And the school bellowed:

"Hogwarts, Hogwarts, Hoggy Warty Hogwarts,

Teach us something please,

Whether we be old and bald

Or young with scabby knees,

Our heads could do with filling

With some interesting stuff,

For now they're bare and full of air,

Dead flies and bits of fluff,

So teach us things worth knowing,

Bring back what we've forgot, just do your best, we'll do the rest,

And learn until our brains all rot. "

Everybody finished the song at different times. Clementine was one of the first as she had sang to the tune of Winter Fantasy- not wanting to be the only one who hadn't complied. The Weasley twins were the last to stop singing nearly a minute after everyone else as they had chosen to sing along to a very slow funeral march. Dumbledore conducted their last few lines with his wand and when they had finished, he was one of those who clapped loudest.

"Ah, music," he said, wiping his eyes. "A magic beyond all we do here! And now, bedtime. Off you trot!"

The Gryffindor first years followed Percy through the chattering crowds, out of the Great Hall, and up the marble staircase. Clementine's legs burned before they even made it up the second flight of stairs. She could see that the other first years were in similar states- huffing and puffing like Dudley did after P.E.. However, her breathless state didn't stop her from noticing the people in the portraits along the corridors whispered and pointed as they passed. She also noticed that twice Percy led them through doorways hidden behind sliding panels and hanging tapestries. She made sure to remember that as they climbed more staircases, yawning and dragging their feet until, finally, Percy came to a stop. Everyone looked up, following his gaze to bundle of walking sticks was floating in midair ahead of them, and as Percy took a step toward them they started throwing themselves at him.

"Peeves," Percy whispered to the first years. "A poltergeist. " He raised his voice, "Peeves - show yourself. "

A loud, rude sound, like the air being let out of a balloon, answered.

"Do you want me to go to the Bloody Baron?"

There was a pop, and a little man with wicked, dark eyes and a wide mouth appeared, floating cross-legged in the air, clutching the walking sticks.

"Oooooooh!" he said, with an evil cackle. "Ickle Firsties! What fun!"

He swooped suddenly at them. They all ducked.

"Go away, Peeves, or the Baron'll hear about this, I mean it!" barked Percy.

Peeves stuck out his tongue and vanished, dropping the walking sticks and Clementine managed to pull Neville away before they landed on his head. They heard him zooming away, rattling coats of armor as he passed.

"You want to watch out for Peeves," said Percy, as they set off again. "The Bloody Baron's the only one who can control him, he won't even listen to us prefects. Here we are."

At the very end of the corridor hung a portrait of a very fat woman in a pink silk dress.

"Password?" she said.

"_Caput Draconis_," said Percy, and the portrait swung forward to reveal a round hole in the wall. They all scrambled through it - with Neville, Clementine, and a few of the shorter first years needing a leg up - and found themselves in the Gryffindor common room, a cozy, round room full of squashy armchairs.

Percy directed the girls through one door to their dormitory and the boys through another. At the top of a spiral staircase - they were obviously in one of the towers - they found their beds at last: five four-posters hung with deep red, velvet curtains. Their trunks had already been brought up.

Clementine wished that she had more energy to stay up and take a look at her new surroundings, but couldn't keep her energy up. So, like the other girls (Hermione, Parvati, Lavender, and another witch named Ximena Carrick), Clementine pulled on her night dress and fell asleep the moment she slipped underneath her covers.

* * *

_Hey, I know I don't usually put AN's at the end of my chapters and I'm not gonna make a habit of it- I promise. Anyway, I love all the support I've been getting from from you guys favoriting and following, but I would love to hear your feedback, so please review. Every one of them counts and makes me feel warm and fuzzy inside. Also, I have a poll up so you guys can tell me what you want to see from the rest of Clementine's story._


	5. You've Got A Friend In Me

You've got a friend in me

You've got a friend in me

If you've got troubles, I've got 'em too

There isn't anything I wouldn't do for you

We stick together and can see it through

'Cause you've got a friend in me

Yeah, you've got a friend in me

* * *

Only a few days had passed since the sorting ceremony and classes began the morning after. With Hermione at her side, the two girls had managed to get to all of their classes on time. Ron and Harry hadn't been as lucky, but Ron had insisted that the two of them could find their way around themselves and Harry didn't disagree, so Clementine forced herself to say nothing whenever they took a wrong turn in the halls or got off before it was time for one of the many, many moving staircases to change around.

So far, Clementine's least favorite class had to be History of magic with Professor Binns, who was the only ghost professor at the school. Clementine had always done well at history in regular school, but it was much harder with such a lifeless teacher.  
Clementine's favorite class had to be a tie between Charms and Potions; Charms was taught by Professor Flitwick who was a short wizard who stood on a large pile of books to be seen over his podium. Their first class, Seamus had somehow managed to blow up an inkwell while they were practicing a simple silence charm on their quills. Potions was Clementine's other favorite subject even though it was taught by Professor Snape who was rude, mean, and a generally unlikable person. He had been rude to Harry and Hermione during their first class and had taken points from Gryffindor at any minor infraction from her house. Seamus blew up a potion in that class, too.

"I can't see how you like potions so much," Padma confessed as they walked to breakfast a few days later with Hannah and Hermione; despite being in different houses, Clementine refused to let them separate her from the friends she had made. Every morning, Padma met Hermione and Clementine at the door to their common room and then they went to the Hufflepuff quarters for Hannah. Apparently, each common room had a defense to keep students from other houses out although it wasn't technically against the rules to be in another houses' common room if invited and the Hufflepuffs were always welcoming. With all the bad talk about Slytherins in Hogwarts, Clementine was surprised to see a few chatting with Hufflepuffs in their common room as she waited for Hannah. "The dungeons are cold and Professor Snape is horrible! He made Bebe Baxter cry because she messed up her first potion."

"Same with Neville," Clementine told her. "But I'm not going to let a bad teacher stop me from liking something."

"Quite right," Hannah agreed before she turned to Hermione who had been quiet the entire conversation. "Hermione," She questioned. "Are you okay? You look like you're about to be sick,"

"We have flying lessons today," She gulped. "I'm terrified- flying isn't something you can learn from a book,"

"You really shouldn't be nervous," Padma insisted. "My cousin told me that Madam Hooch doesn't do much more than have us go a foot or two off the ground for the first lesson. You'll be fine- Hey!" Padma was shoved into Clementine as three third year boys went pushing through their group, knocking them both and their things to the hard stone floor.

Choosing to ignore them much like she had seen Harry do Dudley, Clementine instead focused on picking up her things. Stacking her books on top of each other, she reached out for the roll of parchment that contained the first half of her history of magic homework only for another hand to grab it first. Pushing her red hair away from her face, Clementine looked up to see the boy from the train- Draco Malfoy's brother.

"Thank you," She said, standing as she took the parchment from him.

"Sorry for knocking you down," Arcturus apologized. "We weren't watching where we were going,"

"I-It's fine," Clementine stuttered out. Had his eyes been that same color of blue when they were on the train? And, if they had been, how had Clementine not taken notice?

"I don't mean to be rude, but are you a Weasley?" Clementine's eyebrows furrowed.

"Sorry?"

"I just noticed that the Sorting Hat said your name was Dursley- Clementine, right?"

"Yes- Yes," She nodded, well aware of how awkward she was being. "Clementine Dursley, but I'm not a Weasley- does everyone think I'm a Weasley?" Was red hair not common in the wizarding world?

"Just about," He confirmed.

"Well, I'm not," She told him. "I'm a Dursley- my parents are both normal- I mean muggles. Yes, they're muggles- so was my aunt, but she was a witch, too." Arcturus nodded before noticing that her books were still on the ground.

"Let me get those for you," Kneeling, the thirteen year old picked up the three text books stacked on top of one another and stood again before handing them out to Clementine. She took them and stilled when their hands touched. Behind him, Arcturus' friends were getting impatient.

"Arcturus, come on!" One of them said. He wore Gryffindor Robes and the other wore Ravenclaw; once again, Clementine was seeing contradictions to the 'Everyone Hates Slytherins' mentality everyone around her seemed to have. "We've got to get to get to the quidditch pitch before Zion!"

"Right," Arcturus nodded, realizing he had forgotten whatever it was the three boys were doing. "I've got to go," He said to Clementine before running off with his friends, leaving her standing there and staring after them.

"...Bye," She said, mostly to herself, before turning around where she met the inquisitive gazes of her three friends. "What?"

"What?" Padma asked. "What do you mean what?! You are completely in love with Arcturus Malfoy!"

Clementine scoffed. "I most certainly am not!"

"Completely-" Padma continued.

"No,"

"And utterly," Hannah went next.

"Absolutely not,"

"_In love_!" The two chorused and Clementine looked to Hermione for help, but the girl seemed to agree.

"You did look rather...smitten,"

Clementine gaped at the betrayal from her roommate. "I did not!"

"Did so!" Hannah grinned. "When you two get married, can I be a bridesmaid?" Done with her friends suggestions, Clementine turned and started down the hall again. They followed, teasing the entire way to the great hall.

* * *

Madam Hooch was much like Professor McGonagall in her demeanor- no nonsense- but, while Professor McGonagall emulated a cat (which she had shown Clementine's class she could turn into during their first lesson when Harry and Ron had arrived late) Madam Hooch was much like like a hawk with her short, gray hair, and yellow eyes.

"Well, what are you all waiting for?" she barked once everyone was there. "Everyone stand by a broomstick. Come on, hurry up," She rushed when she felt they were going to slow. All the Slytherins were on one side while the Gryffindors were the other. Clementine found herself standing between Harry and Ron while Hermione we a few people away near Parvati and Neville. "Stick out your right hand over your broom," called Madam Hooch at the front, "and say 'Up!'" Clementine looked down at her broom and saw that, like all the others, it was well used and would probably do more good sweeping the floor than flying.

"UP!" They all called at once. Harry, Ron, and a few others brooms went straight up into their hands. Clementine wasn't as lucky; her broom quickly swung out to the side, swiping her feet out from underneath her. She landed with an "oomph!" on her back. She could tell from a few identical sounds, that she hadn't been the only one who had experience friendly fire.

"Are you okay?" She heard Harry ask and she opened her eyes to see him and Ron above her.

"I'm fine," She groaned as they pulled her back onto to her feet. Her head ached a little, but she supposed that was normal after hitting it on the ground. Straightening out her broom, Clementine tried again. "Up!" The broom twitched, but didn't move off of the ground. "Up!" The upper end of the broom raised a few inches before falling back to the ground. Clementine was trying not to lose her patience. "Up!" The broom came up only half a foot before falling once more. Clementine was officially frustrated and it showed.

"Ms. Dursley, I would recommend that you not let your frustration get the best of you," Madam Hooch insisted as she came over. "Brooms can be temperamental," Unfortunately, Clementine was about two "up"'s past listening to the witch.

"UP!" This time, the broom went straight into Clementine's hand and she let out a breath of relief...unfortunately, the broom didn't stop.

Clementine let out a shriek as she broom shot up and she gripped it with two hands as she went higher and higher. "Ms. Dursley!" Clementine shrieked again when the boom began going down and over and up- doing everything in its power to get her to let go. Despite knowing that it was absolutely the worst thing she could do, Clementine looked down to see that she was about fifty feet or so off of the ground. "Ms. Dursley, hold on!" Madam Hooch called up to her before mounting her own broom. With grace and agility that Clementine was sincerely beginning to think all brooms lacked, Madam Hooch flew up to and reached out to grab her, only for Clementine's broom to shoot downwards at an alarmingly fast pace. Clementine screamed as the broom shot upwards again, forcing her fingers to slip from the splintering wood. She continued screaming as she fell to the ground and onto the group of students who had been watching with rapt attention. The back of her head hit the front of someone else's and everything went blurry.

Clementine wouldn't be able to say what happened next; she remembered the feeling of being weightless and the feeling of her hands dragging across rough stone and then a comfortable cushion underneath her before her eyes closed. When she opened them again, everything was much clearer and she felt much better.

"So glad to see you awake, darling," Clementine looked to see a woman with grey hair and a gentle smile on her face. She wore and red dress with a white apron overtop and a strange cloth hat on her head. She reminded Clementine of her late grandmother, May. "How are you feeling?"

"Better," Was all Clementine could think to say as the witch came to stand by her bedside. She attempted to sit up, but was met with a sharp pain in her stomach. "Okay," She sucked in a breath as the woman helped her. "Not as better as I thought I was,"

"You must be careful with how you move," She insisted. "The potion I gave you is going to need a lot more rest out of you to work,"

"But I have-"

"I have already spoken to Professor McGonagall who is your head of house," The woman informed her. "She has already informed your professors that you will miss the next two days of classes. She is confident that you will be able to catch up to the rest of your class without much trouble. Now, I believe you have a few friends of yours waiting outside for you," Clementine's mind immediately went to Harry and how worried he must've been when she fell.

A few moments later, Harry was the first to run into the room with Hermione, Ron, and Padma behind him. Neville was also with them, but wasn't moving too quickly. Clementine couldn't help but wonder if he was who she had fallen onto.

"Clementine, are you okay?" Harry asked as soon as he stopped next to her bed. She nodded, giving him a small smile.

"I'm fine," She insisted.

"Madam Pomfrey said that you'll miss two days of classes," Hermione added. That must've been the woman's name. "She said you broke several bones and could have broken your neck,"

"But I didn't," Clementine reminded. "And I'm fine, see?" She moved her arms and legs about, no clue how ridiculous she looked. "No broken bones; they're all mended. She says I just need more rest." Remembering how Neville had been walking, she looked to him. "Are you alright, Neville?"

The boy nodded. "I broke my ankle and had a nasty bump on my head, but Madam Pomfrey gave me a potion and I'm completely fine now. I'm just a little sore, is all."

"I'm sorry I fell on you," Clementine apologized.

"I'm sure she didn't mean to," Hermione pointed out, but Neville had already accepted her apology.

"Clementine, you'll never believe what happened!" Ron suddenly cut in, unable to hold in whatever he had been wanting to say before. "When Madam Hooch brought you and Neville to the hospital wing, Neville dropped his Remembrall and Malfoy nicked it, so Harry went chasin' him around the castle until he got it back!"

"What?!" Clementine wasn't sure whether she should be proud Harry of reprimanding him for doing such a thing when he had no flying experience.

"Professor McGonagall came and took him away and we were all sure he was gonna get expelled-"

"But instead, McGonagall made him seeker on the Gryffindor Quidditch team!" Padma finished. Ron gaped at her for stealing his surprise ending, but Padma shrugged. "Everyone's talking about it and you were taking ages to finish the story."

"You're on the quidditch team?" Clementine asked and Harry nodded.

"Turns out my dad was too," He shared eagerly. "He was a chaser,"

"I'm so proud of you, Harry," Clementine took his hand and squeezed it with a large smile on her face. She figured that there would always be another time for her to reprimand him- especially with him getting into as much trouble as he had been.

Her friends continued to tell her of the events she had missed in the day and had showered her with gifts and an enchanted 'get well soon' card that they had managed to get all the first years from Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff to sign (along with a few from Slytherin) and Clementine had thanked them all, but she couldn't help but notice how quiet Hermione was being; Of course, her friend had never been the most social of people, but she had never held back information that she thought would held (and Clementine was sure she had read one or two books on healing potions while she had been asleep). However, she was uncharacteristically quiet for most of the visit.

Madam Pomfrey ordered them all out about an hour after they arrived, but Clementine grabbed out at Hermione's hand before she could leave

"What aren't you telling me?"

"What?!" Hermione's eyes were wide like an owl.

"Hermione, you're hiding something from me and friends don't keep secrets, so what is it?" She still looked reluctantly to share whatever information she had. "Hermione…"

"Malfoy challenged Harry to a midnight duel," She whispered. "I've tried to talk him out of it, but he won't listen to me! He told me not to tell you either,"

"You too, Ms. Granger!" Madam Pomfrey was making her way back to grab the lingering student. Clementine had to be quick about it.

"Go with them," She said and Hermione's eyes widened even more.

"What?!"

"Harry and Ron don't know as many spells as you combined," Clementine pointed out. "You can keep them from getting into too much trouble-"

"And what if we're caught?!" Hermione whispered shrilly. "I don't want to get in trouble!"

"Then you can tell whoever catches you that I'm to blame- that you were all coming to see me. Please, Hermione!" Clementine begged as Madam Pomfrey got close.

Hermione didn't get an answer before she was kicked out of the wing and it took all the restraint Clementine had not to jump out of bed and run after her until she gave one. Instead, Clementine hoped that her friend did her this one favor before turning over to go to sleep.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you so much!" Clementine repeated over and over again as she pulled Hermione into a hug. "I hope you didn't get into too much trouble,"

* * *

It was a few days before Halloween by the time Clementine was allowed out of the hospital wing- Madam Pomfrey having added an extra night on her recovery time when Clementine had tried to sneak out of bed one night. No one had been allowed to visit her after the first day and Clementine had desperately wanted to know whether or not Harry, Ron, and Hermione had been caught or hurt. She, of course, couldn't tell Madam Pomfrey that, she had taken her punishment without protest.

"We didn't get hurt or caught," Hermione insisted. "Malfoy never showed up, but I think he told Filch that there would be students out of bed because he was waiting," Clementine honestly couldn't stand Filch or his cat, Mrs. Norris who had tried to scratch Clementine's eyes out when she tried to pet her. "Peeves almost got us caught, but we managed to get away in time, but you'll never guess-"

Hermione proceeded to tell Clementine all about how she had accidentally locked herself, Neville, Ron, and Harry in the forbidden corridor which was housing a large three headed dog. Hermione was sure that the dog was guarding something, but Clementine had told her not to dwell on it as she had no intention of letting neither her friends nor cousin near the thing again.

Unfortunately, her plans of protecting hadn't gone very far before they were tossed out the window by Clementine's professors who were throwing three days of work at her; when she wasn't in class, Clementine was in the library with Hermione, Padma, and Hannah who had promised to help her with the three rolls of parchment due in transfiguration, the four due in potions, the one due in History of Magic, and the two due in charms. With their help, Clementine had managed to make quick work of it all and catch up with all of her classmates by the time Halloween came.

Luckily, the teachers were in the Halloween spirit and hadn't assigned much homework other than some light reading and Professor Flitwick was even confident that everyone was ready to start making objects fly. He had wanted them all to partner up and Clementine had tried to get with Hermione, but Harry had asked her instead. Hermione, unfortunately, had been paired up with Ron who still couldn't stand her. Clementine knew that Ron was still upset with her for going along with them to their duel with Malfoy, but Clementine hadn't been able to find the time to get Ron on his own and tell him the truth. If she was being honestly, Clementine had been avoiding telling him and Harry- she knew her cousin would be upset that she had assigned him a babysitter, but how could she not worry when he was running off doing midnight duels with boys who knew loads more magic than he did?

"Now, don't forget that nice wrist movement we've been practicing!" Professor Flitwick squeaked from atop his pile of books. "Swish and flick, remember, swish and flick. And saying the magic words properly is very important, too - never forget Wizard Baruffio, who said 's' instead of 'f' and found himself on the floor with a buffalo on his chest. "

Just about everyone was having difficulty with the spell, but Clementine had yet to cast hers yet- still wary from the incident with the broom. She was sure that the feather they were supposed to be levitating would fly into her throat and choke her if she swished the wrong way.

"Clementine," Harry spoke and she looked over to him. "You can't be afraid of magic- you're a genius at it."

"I know, but magic doesn't seem to like me very much,"

"Remember when you fell off your bike the first time you tried to ride it?" Clementine grimaced; she had been riding it down the sidewalk and had fallen off- scraping her knee something awful. After getting bandaged up by her mother, Clementine had refused to get back on the bike, but Harry had talked her into it. "You were afraid, but you did it anyway because you're the bravest person I know."

"I actually did it because you promised to walk with me to the sweet shop if I did,"

"Well then," Harry smiled. "If you say the spell, I'll give you a few chocolate frogs Ron nicked from Percy," Once again, Clementine wanted to reprimand him from accepting stolen candy, but she really wanted it. Maybe what Percy didn't know wouldn't hurt him.

Turning back to her feather, Clementine raised her wand. "_Wingardium Leviosa_!" She said, swishing her wrist and flicking her wand as gently as she could.

Thankfully, she didn't have a repeat of what happened with her broom and instead she and Harry watched in amazement as the feather raised higher and higher in the air.

"Wicked," She breathed before turning to grin at Harry. He grinned back, but laughed as she sputtered when the feather fell back down and onto her face.

Unfortunately for a few other people, things didn't go as smoothly as it did with Clementine; Seamus set fire to his feather; Neville managed to flick his wand across the room and out the window ...and then there was Hermione and Ron.

"Wingardium Leviosa!" Ron shouted, waving his long arms like a windmill.

"You're saying it wrong," Hermione snapped. "It's Wing- gar -dium Levi- o -sa, make the 'gar' nice and long. "

"You do it, then, if you're so clever," Ron snarled. Clementine was sure that it would only make things worse if Hermione was able to do it (which she would be) and he wasn't (which he wasn't).

In the end, Hermione was able to levitate her feather without trouble and Ron ended up with a very bad mood and decided to vent to his friends.

"It's no wonder no one can stand her," Clementine and Hermione heard him say to Harry as they left class, "she's a nightmare, honestly." Next to her, Hermione's face took on a hurt look and Clementine saw a tear fall before she ran off, pushing past Harry and Ron.

"I think she heard you." Harry said, but Ron seemed to not care.

"So?" he said and Clementine felt her anger flare. "She must've noticed she's got no friends. "

"That's it!" Clementine practically shouted as she rushed in front of the two and stood to face them, forcing them to stop. "I am sick and tired of you picking on that poor girl!"

"Poor girl?!" Ron repeated, his voice full of doubt. "She's been following us all week- poking her nose into places it doesn't belong and spouting off stupid facts that no one cares about-"

"Because she's trying to help you, you dumbbell!" Clementine shouted. "When Hermione doesn't know something, she researches everything she can about it so that she can be prepared and she wants to share what she knows with everyone else so that they'll be prepared, too; it's her way of showing she cares and you all just throw it back in her face and laugh at her when she's trying to help you!" Ron seemed to have enough of a conscience to look ashamed. "And as for her poking her nose where it doesn't belong- I asked her to do that-"

"You what?!" As Clementine had expected, Harry looked upset. "You had her spying on us-"

"Yes!" Clementine replied. "Because you were stupid enough to accept a wizards duel from Draco Malfoy and you didn't tell me-"

"You would've only worried-"

"Why wouldn't I?!" She demanded. "You put yourself in danger and Hermione was the only one who thought to tell me! And-" She was back to Ron now. "When someone is considerate enough to stop you from getting into trouble, you thank them! You don't make tease and make fun of them!"

"I-"

"Do you have a sister, Ronald Weasley?" He nodded.

"Ginny," He supplied. "She's ten,"

"And what if someone treated Ginny like you've treated Hermione?" Clementine asked. "I bet you would fight them, curse them- risk being expelled to protect her, am I right?" Ron nodded hesitantly. "And if that did happen- if Ginny came to Hogwarts and started being picked on by two people she's done nothing but try to help- then the only difference between her and Hermione would be that Ginny has four older brothers to protect her while Hermione has none," Ron looked probably abashed now. "I think you owe her an apology- both of you." She added looking to her cousin. "But don't be surprised if she doesn't accept it, because- if I were her- I would never speak to either of you again." And with that, Clementine turned away from the two ashamed boys and went off to find her friend.

Clementine missed her last two classes looking for Hermione, and it wasn't until it the Halloween feast was halfway over that Parvati was able to point her in the direction of the first floor girls toilets where Clementine found Hermione crying her eyes out in one of the stalls.

"Hermione," Clementine's voice was soft as she approached the stall where she could hear the sounds of sniffling. "Hermione, are you okay?"

"All I've done is try to be their friend," She sniffed. "Why would they be so awful?"

"Because they're idiots," Clementine supplied.

"Then they're not the first," Hermione said through the door. "I didn't have many friends in muggle school either," She admitted. "Whenever I tried to be nice, they just laughed at me and called me names."

"Then they're idiots, too," Clementine said, despite knowing full well that Hermione had a habit of coming on strong when she tried to make friends. She was brash, and abrasive, but that wasn't what she needed to hear at the moment- even if it was the truth. "And I don't care what anyone says- you have friends; I'm your friend, Padma's your friend, Hannah's your friend. I mean, only a friend would do something they absolutely didn't want to only because someone asked her. Ron Weasley probably wouldn't see a friend coming from a mile off,"

"...You're a good friend,"

Clementine smiled. "So are you, Hermione and more people will see that one day, I promise you." Clementine heard the latch on the door move out of place as she gave Hermione a reassuring smile when she finally showed her blotchy face and red eyes. "There's still a half hour 'til the feast over; do you want to go?"

Hermione nodded as she wiped at her eyes. She stepped out only to still when her eyes landed on something behind Clementine. "What is it?" Clementine turned around and gasped when she saw what had caught her friend's eye.

At twelve feet tall, its skin was a dull, granite gray, its great lumpy body like a boulder with its small bald head perched on top like a coconut. It had short legs thick as tree trunks with flat, horny feet. The smell coming from it was horrible. It was holding a huge wooden club, which scratched the floor because its arms were so long.

Clementine's first reaction was to scream and she immediately started staggering back when the troll heard her. Hitting her back against the door, she pushed Hermione into the stall before getting in and closing it behind her, but it was for naught; the troll let out a terrible noise and the two girls dropped to the ground just as the larde club came swinging and destroyed the door and walls of the stall.

"Go, go, go!" Clementine pushed Hermione forward as she crawled underneath the stall and to the sinks. They both huddled in the corner- hoping to escape the notice of the troll, but it was on them and it was advancing- swinging its club and hitting the walls with every step. Suddenly, it swung its club down towards the sink the two girls were hiding under and they barely had time to crawl under another before the porcelain shattered behind them and water began spraying everywhere.

"Confuse it!" Clementine looked behind the troll to see Harry and Ron standing near the door. Ron grabbed something from the sink and threw it hard at the wall- clinks and clanks sounding as it ricocheted. The troll stopped its advancement and turned around. "Oy, pea-brain!"

While Ron distracted the troll, Harry edged around the room before making his way to Clementine and Hermione.

"Come on, run, run!" Harry yelled at them both, trying to pull Clementine toward the door, but she shook him off.

"We'll never get out!" She yelled back; there was no way all three of them could get past the troll without being noticed- not to mention, that meant leaving Ron behind as the troll was now focused on him and boy was it angry.

It started forward for the redhaired boy and before Clementine could tell him not to, Harry did something incredible brave and recklessly stupid.

Running, Harry jumped and wrapped his arms around the troll's neck from behind. The troll couldn't feel Harry hanging there, but even a troll will notice if you stick a long bit of wood up its nose, and Harry's wand had still been in his hand when he'd jumped - it had gone straight up one of the troll's nostrils.

Howling with pain, the troll twisted and flailed its club, with Harry clinging on for dear life; any second, the troll was going to rip him off or catch him a terrible blow with the club.

Behind the troll, Ron pulled out his own wand - not knowing what he was going to do he heard himself cry the first spell that came into his head: "_Wingardium Leviosa_!"

The club flew suddenly out of the troll's hand, rose high, high up into the air, turned slowly over - and dropped, with a sickening crack, onto its owner's head. The troll swayed on the spot and then fell flat on its face, with a thud that made the whole room tremble. Thankfully, Harry was safe. That didn't stop Clementine from worrying.

"Are you okay?" She asked, helping him off of the troll and to his feet. He nodded, too out of breath to speak. Ron was still standing there with his wand still raised, staring at what he had done.

It was Hermione who spoke first.

"Is it - dead?" She had crawled out from underneath the sink and had been so soaked by water that he hair was almost flat on her head and her robes were dripping water onto the floor.

Clementine shook her head. "I don't think so; It's still moving- I think Ron only knocked out." Everyone grimaced and held in shuddered when Harry pulled his wand from the troll's nose and a long, thick line of lumpy gray stuff was pulled off with it.

"Urgh - troll boogers." Harry wiped his wand off on the troll's trousers just as the door to the bathroom slammed open and three of their professors came running in; Professor McGonagall was first, followed by Snape and Quirrell, who took one look at the troll, whimpered, and had to sit down on a toilet.

Professor Snape bent over the troll while Professor McGonagall looked to Ron and Harry. She was furious.

"What on earth were you thinking of?" She asked, with cold fury in her voice. Harry looked at Ron, who was still standing with his wand in the air. "You're lucky you weren't killed. Why aren't you in your dormitory?"

"Please, Professor McGonagall - they were looking for us." Hermione said from next to Clementine.

"Miss Granger!" Professor McGonagall was astonished. "Miss Dursley?"

The last thing Clementine wanted was for Hermione have to explain why she was crying in the toilets, so Clementine took over. "Hermione was upset and I came to get her to come to the feast, but the troll came it. We'd be dead now if Harry and Ron hadn't found us."

"They saved us," Hermione added. "Harry stuck his wand up its nose and Ron knocked it out with its own club. They didn't have time to come and fetch anyone. It was about to finish us off when they arrived. "

"Well - in that case. . . " said Professor McGonagall, staring at the four of them, "You all were incredibly lucky- you could've been killed. While I do find it necessary to take off five points from Gryffindor for not following proper procedure, I must also recognize that not many first years could not have taken on a full-grown mountain troll and lived to tell the tale. Mr. Weasley, Mr. Potter, you each win Gryffindor ten points. Professor Dumbledore will be informed of this. You may go. "

The four of them hurried out of the chamber and didn't speak at all until they had climbed two floors up. It was a relief to be away from the smell of the troll, quite apart from anything else.

"We should have gotten more than ten points," Ron grumbled.

"_We_ should be grateful we weren't killed!" Clementine hissed back. "And not that I'm not grateful to you two for saving us, but why were you even near the girls bathroom? You were supposed to go straight to Gryffindor Tower."

Harry and Ron shared a look and Clementine was immediately able to tell they were agreeing on a lie. "No reason," Ron said and Harry nodded. At any other time, Clementine might've been tempted to call them on their lie, but Ron had turned to Hermione who walked next to them. "Errr...Hermione," He began, rubbing the back of his neck. "I'm sorry about what I said after Charms. You can be right annoying sometimes-" Clementine held her tongue, hoping that he wasn't going to end his apology like that. "But you we're only trying to help, so...sorry."

Hermione said nothing as they stopped in front of the portrait of the fat lady, but she gave him a small smile.

"Pig snout," The four chorused and entered once the door was open.

The common room was packed and noisy; Everyone was eating the food that had been sent up. Hermione and Clementine had planned on getting a plate each and taking it up to their room, but were stopped by Ron and Harry.

"Do you two...do you want to eat with us?" he asked before looking to Hermione. "I could use some more help with that spell for Charms."

"O-Of course- sure," Hermione nodded and the boys led them over to the couch in front of the fire where they were joined by Neville, Seamus, Dean, and Parvati.

Clementine doubted that it could have ever happened, but from that moment on, Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley managed to get on exceptionally well.

Watching Ron levitate Neville's plate of spice cake into the air with Hermione instructing him, Clementine smiled. She had no doubts that there would be times that the two would argue and bicker with one another, but she could tell that their friendship would be a great one because there are some things you can't share without ending up liking each other- and knocking out a twelve-foot mountain troll is one of them.


End file.
